Truecaller, a caller identification app, has welcomed the Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) Supplementary service recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), asserting that it will complement its existing caller ID application service without adversely affecting its business.
"We welcome this move as nobody can solve this spam problem alone. I believe it will be complementary to Truecaller," said Rishit Jhunjhunwala, Managing Director of Truecaller India in an interview to Moneycontrol.
"This will raise the awareness of products like Truecaller in a big country like India. There needs to be a collaborative private and public approach to solve this spam problem," Jhunjhunwala added.
Trai in late February recommended that telecom service providers implement CNAP service which will display the caller's identity based on the registration data submitted during the KYC process. The move is expected to curb spam.
Jhunjhunwala, however, highlighted that the CNAP service will have its own set of challenges in curbing the spam menace in the country.
“Telcos will launch their service using KYC data. You can get nine SIM cards using one ID proof, which means the entire family could have the same KYC data. Multiple people will have the same KYC. So that will be a little bit of a challenge,” he added.
The executive believes the implementation of CNAP will make more users aware of the growing spam problem, which will help players like Truecaller, allowing users to offer more services like call blocking and call recording.
“We have been in India for a long time but yet we only cover around 270 million users in India. Therefore we have a long way to go. And CNAP will grow the awareness of products like Truecaller. India is a big market, and we're still growing. That's the reason why we invest so much in India,” he added.
The Swedish company has created a government directory and registered 25,000 numbers of various government agencies across various states and verified them on its platform. It has also partnered with the Income Tax department, IRCTC and police forces to verify their numbers.
“We have worked with MHA and DoT…think it is amazing how this government has been open to talking to people like us and collaborating,” the executive said.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on March 5 launched its 'Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) to curb the misuse of telecom resources in cybercrimes and financial frauds, and the 'Chakshu' facility on the Sanchar Saathi portal to enable citizens to report suspected fraud communication.
Jhunjhunwala said that Truecaller will be open to engaging with the DoT on these new initiatives as well.
Truecaller, which now has almost half its global workforce in India, is putting efforts this year to drive monetisation of its B2C and B2B services in the country. “For monetisation, we rely on advertising, premium offerings for customers and our B2B service for enterprises. We're always building on more capabilities…Our ad tech stack has improved very significantly over the years,” Jhunjhunwala added.
The company’s B2B offering has seen “significant” growth in terms of revenues and customer base in the past few years in India. It is working with various banks, telecom operators, e-commerce companies and food delivery companies among others.
“We do KYC for their numbers and show them as verified caller on Truecaller to build trust around their services. We have also launched a reputation product for enterprise customers in India,” he said.
Truecaller, which has done three acquisitions in India to date, is open to more acquisitions in the country to bolster its offering.
“Our focus on M&A has always been there. We are always on the lookout for exciting companies that are doing things that help in our mission as well. We have invested significantly in India and are happy with how the India investments have shaped up,” the executive said.
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