Here’s how Truecaller is protecting users from fake government officials

The latest feature of Truecaller has a government directory which includes contact numbers for 20 central ministries covering over 23 states and union territories. Notably, the calling app has directly taken the information of government bureaucrats from the official sources, as per Truecaller. It also said that the company plans to expand this directory with new contacts across other departments and states in India.

As per the company, Truecaller will add district and municipal-level authorities’ numbers which will eventually help the common people in order to protect them from scammers, and frauds who pretend to be government officials to commit cyber crimes. The company added that whenever a government official will call someone, the user can spot a green background with a blue tick. This means that the contact is verified.

As of now, the latest security feature is available for the Android version of the Truecaller app. But there is no official information on when the iOS version of the app will receive this update.

Meanwhile, the telecom regulator is set to roll out its mobile phone caller identity system—verified by KYC or know your customer details—within the next three weeks.

It will also explore new regulation keeping in view the “scenario of multiple screens, same content”, P.D. Vaghela, chairperson of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said on Wednesday.

The caller ID system will be pitched as the government’s replacement for the popular Truecaller app. “Trai has conducted several stakeholder consultations to iron out the issues,” Vaghela told HT. “The new feature should be rolled out in the next two to three weeks.”

Vaghela added that the regulatory and legal framework needs to keep pace with new developments in order to ensure not only smooth adoption of the new technologies but also protection of state and consumer interests.