TRAI's caller ID plan not a competition but catalyst for growth: Truecaller CEO

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s plan to develop a caller-name display system would not be a competition to Truecaller, CEO and co-founder of the Swedish caller identifying app Alan Mamedi has said.

"Based on the information available at present, we do not see that this would be a competitive service comparable to the full range of services and functionality that Truecaller offers to our more than 310 million monthly active users,” Mamedi said in a press statement on May 24 reacting to reports about the telecom regulator’s move.

The proposed service could be a “driving catalyst” for the company's growth, he said. India is the largest market for Truecaller, with more than 220 million monthly active users as in November 2021, up from 178.1 million users in September.

According to a CNBC-TV18 report, the proposed caller-ID system would display know your customer (KYC) details shared by the subscriber.

TRAI would leverage technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to target unsolicited commercial calls, the report quoted an unnamed official as saying. The authority also plans to bring a consultation paper, the official said.

"During our 13 years, we have seen many players—both private and state-driven—trying t0 enter this industry, and we are humble in the face of this great challenges it entails to ensure safe and reliable communication for everyone," Mamedi said.

TRAI's proposed system would take many years to implement and require successful collaboration with all major telecom operators, Truecaller said.

CNBC-TV18 also cited a report by community-based social media platform LocalCircles that said 64 percent of the 9,623 mobile users surveyed had received at least three spam calls a day.