The numbers are blocked based on complaints for such calls.
“In the last three-four days, over 1,500 callers, including international numbers, have been blocked by the government after checking the credentials of such calls from telecom operators,” said one of the officials cited.
While criminal investigations by security agencies will continue, miscreants won’t be allowed to misuse telecom resources, the officials said.
Prominent names among the blocked callers include designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who has been threatening to target the BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), as well as Air India.
“Once the government was made aware of Pannun’s threats, the numbers from which the calls were received were blocked within a day after checking the details from telecom operators and international gateways,” another official said.The DoT is also checking international gateways for details about such callers. Further, telcos have been told that in case their customer care centres receive calls from users about such calls, these should be reported to the department.”Criminal investigations by security agencies against such callers happen in parallel, but in the meantime, such callers are being blocked, so that they don’t create a nuisance,” the first official cited said.
Lately, there has been a spurt in financial fraud committed by people calling from international numbers. They have been using various apps that offer international numbers with an eSIM without any documentation.
Last week, the DoT had directed Google, Apple, telecom operators and internet service providers to block two eSIM apps – Airalo and Holafly.
The apps have been removed after it was found that fraudsters use unauthorised eSIMs with international phone numbers to commit cybercrimes, officials said.
The government has been stepping up its efforts to check online financial frauds. As part of these efforts, verification of SIM card dealers has been made mandatory and the provision of bulk connections has been discontinued.
Telecom operators also require the mandatory registration of franchisees, point of sale (PoS) agents and distributors. This helps in eliminating rogue entities issuing SIMs to anti-social and anti-national elements as part of fraudulent practices.
But providers based outside India continue to offer eSIMs for a fee without any verification. To tackle the issue, the government has started blocking rogue numbers after verifying details with the help of telecom operators.
