DoT moots blocking incoming ILD calls without caller ID
08 Nov 2006
New Delhi: The Department of Telecom is considering blocking all international long distance telephone calls coming into the country without caller line identification.
This is being considered in face of security concerns. However, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has cautioned against such a move on the grounds that blocking calls would lead to inconvenience to consumers as a large number of international calls would not be completed and this would affect the collection of the access deficit charges.
A large number of ILD calls coming into the country do not display the phone number of the person who is calling. They either display digits like 301, 401, 501 or as "unknown number".
DoT's proposal was made after security agencies pointed out that such calls could pose a security threat to the country. While some of the operators have expressed technical problems in displaying the CLI number for calls coming from international destinations, DoT officials said that it was possible to put a system in place.