Trai DND app to be compatible with all Android phones by March: Trai secretary

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is fixing bugs in its do not disturb app, which helps mobile subscribers report pesky calls and text messages immediately, a senior official of the regulatory body said on Tuesday.

Speaking at an event organised by Truecaller, Trai Secretary V Raghunandan said the regulator is fixing bugs in the Do Not Disturb (DND) app to address technical issues faced by consumers.

"We have roped in an agency, which is fixing bugs in the app. There were issues with some Android devices that have been addressed to a large extent. We are trying to make the app compatible with all Android devices by March," Raghunandan said.

The Trai DND app has been showing errors when mobile subscribers attempt to report spam calls and SMS.

Raghunandan said with improvement in the app, the number of spam calls and SMS has come down significantly.

Apple had denied giving the app access to call logs but Raghunandan said work is on to make the app compatible with iOS devices as well.

He said the findings of the pilot project -- being run by Tanla on Vodafone Idea network to check fraud calls -- have been partly incorporated in the standard operating procedure, which have been shared with telecom operators.

Raghunandan said one agency -- public or private -- cannot address all aspects of security in the country and the approach must be collaborative with strategic public-private partnerships.

Truecaller CEO and Co-Founder Alan Mamedi said the company has 270 million active users in India and 5 million spam calls are reported in the country via the platform daily.

"Upcoming challenges are related to Open AI. It makes cloning or manipulation of voice very easy. In the US, the cloning of children's voices was used to extort money from parents. Our efforts are meant to detect whether the voice is manipulated or not," Mamedi said.

Earlier, older people were the most vulnerable victims of digital fraud, but now even young people fall prey, he added.