India Orders Caller-ID Apps to Share Spam Reports via Blockchain as 42 Billion Calls Hit Users
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Sep 19
India Orders Caller-ID Apps to Share Spam Reports via Blockchain as 42 Billion Calls Hit Users
3 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Sep 19
Summary
TRAI on Friday amended India’s commercial-communications rules to force caller-ID and call-management apps to send user spam reports to a telecom-run blockchain platform used to police unsolicited calls.
The regulator said linking app reports to operators’ enforcement system will widen the evidence base against spammers, while also classifying undeclared robocalls and AI-voice calls as spam under its A2P framework.
Truecaller, whose largest market is India with more than 350 million users, called the mandate a one-way, anti-competitive transfer of commercially valuable data to telecom operators.
Key details remain unclear, including exactly what data apps must share, how user consent and retention will work, and how India would enforce the rule on non-telecom companies.
The changes land as India battles spam at vast scale: Truecaller said users there encountered about 42 billion spam calls in 2025 and that it blocked nearly 12 billion.