Airtel's Vittal seeks regulatory oversight of WhatsApp, other messaging apps to combat spam

Gopal Vittal

Bharti Airtel managing director Gopal Vittal has called for regulatory oversight of messaging platforms such as WhatsApp to protect consumers from the growing menace of spam.

"There needs to be a mechanism to ensure these platforms come under some form of regulatory oversight to safeguard users," Vittal said at the launch of Airtel’s spam detection technology on September 25.

The AI-powered spam detection solution will be available to its smartphone using customers from September 26 for free. The solution aims to curb the widespread issue of spam calls and messages.

The move aligns with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) new, stricter regulations that mandate commercial callers use a specific 10-digit series starting with the prefix 160 to help block spam.

Airtel's solution would address the issue of spammers using personal mobile handsets, which telecom operators struggle to block as the callers frequently change SIM cards, the Airtel managing director said.

The telco has also contacted other telecom operators, seeking collaboration on sharing business user information to prevent legitimate calls being flagged as spam.

Vittal did not say if Airtel would share its technology with rival operators. He, however, said the company would have "no issue" sharing its spam detection database.

The company would consider taking the technology to African countries if needed.

Airtel had been working in “confidential stealth” for a year to develop this solution, which, Vittal said, accurately flagged 97 percent of spam calls and over 99 percent of such texts during testing by analysing the behaviour of the suspected spammers.

On smartphones, flagged calls will have “suspected spam” as the caller name. The same would be prefixed to SMSes.

India is “number four in spam calls being made”, Vittal said, adding more than 60 percent of the company’s customers received at least three such calls daily.

While financial frauds are a key priority for anti-spam efforts, “this is about intrusive communication”, he said, adding even legitimate business and advertising calls could be a menace.