Over 1.36 crore mobile numbers disconnected to curb telecom fraud, spoof calls down 97%: Minister Scindia

Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia

In a sweeping crackdown on telecom fraud, the Government of India has disconnected more than 1.36 crore mobile connections based on citizen feedback and further deactivated 26 lakh Indian SIMs found to be misused from Southeast Asian countries, Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia told Parliament.

Additionally, 1.3 lakh mobile devices involved in international telecom scams have been blocked.

Addressing the Lok Sabha, Scindia outlined a series of tech-enabled measures rolled out by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs to protect citizens from digital and telecom-related threats. These include a Digital Intelligence Platform integrating inputs from 620 entities, including 570 banks, 36 state police forces, investigative agencies, and telecom providers, for real-time action against fraudsters.

The minister said the government’s citizen-facing tools have seen strong uptake. The Sanchar Saathi portal, launched in May 2023, has received over 15.5 crore hits, while the mobile app version, released in January 2025, has been downloaded more than 44 lakh times. These platforms allow users to report fraudulent activity, check mobile connections in their name, and block unauthorised SIMs.

Based on inputs from these tools, the DoT has already blocked 5.5 lakh handsets, deactivated 20,000 bulk SMS senders, and delinked nearly 24 lakh suspicious WhatsApp accounts. Through the “Know Your Mobile Connections” feature, citizens have helped identify and disconnect unauthorised SIMs issued in their names.

Advanced analytics and AI-driven systems like ASTR have further aided the crackdown by identifying and removing 82 lakh fake mobile connections. The government also launched an International Incoming Spoof Calls Prevention solution, which on Day 1 blocked 1.35 crore spoofed calls, foreign calls falsely appearing with Indian caller IDs. These efforts have reduced such incidents by 97%, with daily spoof calls down to around 3 lakh.

To tackle financial fraud, the DoT introduced a Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) system that categorises users as ‘Very High’, ‘High’, or ‘Medium’ risk based on suspicious banking activity. The risk profile is shared with banks in real time, leading to the prevention of over 3.04 lakh suspicious transactions and the freezing of 1.55 lakh accounts. The RBI has since mandated all banks to integrate this system.

Scindia emphasised that these efforts are part of a broader mission to build a digitally secure India. “The government remains committed to eliminating telecom fraud and urges citizens to stay alert and report any suspicious activity,” he said.

On the performance of public telecom operators, the minister said BSNL’s subscriber base has risen from 8.55 crore to 9.1 crore over the past year, aided by a Rs 3.22 lakh crore revival package. BSNL has also operationalised 75,000 out of 95,000 sanctioned towers using an indigenous 4G tech stack developed by C-DoT, Tejas Networks, and TCS. A shift to 5G services is planned in the next phase.