Have you ever received international calls that turn out to be spam? You will not be disturbed by these calls anymore as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in a directive dated July 6th, 2022, has instructed International Long Distance Operators (ILDOs) to drop all calls with no caller line identification (CLI) or improper CLI at their gateways. The directive is an amendment to the Unified License agreement. Why it matters: The international calls, which are usually spam, have become a nuisance in recent years. They also pose a security threat as many of them turn out to be scams devised to pilfer credit card information from unsuspecting users. The latest directive is likely to push operators to filter calls in a stringent manner. Why did the DoT amend the terms: The department said that it has the right under the agreement to modify the terms and conditions of the license in the public interest or for improving the security of the State. What else did the provision stipulate: The ILDOs have been asked to ensure that all calls handed over to National Long Distance Operators (telcos) should bear the tag—International Number—in the 'Nature of Address Indicator' (NAN) field. The amendment comes into effect from August 1st, 2022. What was the earlier provision: There were no restrictions and ILDOs would transit the CLI as received from the foreign callers. In the case of no CLI, the operator would introduce his assigned two-digit carrier identification code followed by the country code from where…
