The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recently recommended the introduction of Caller Name Presentation (CNAP) by telecom operators.
About Caller Name Presentation:
- Caller Name Presentation is a supplementary service similar to Truecaller that provides the name of the caller to the called party.
- The originating access service providers should provide the Calling Name (CNAM) of each telephone subscriber upon request.
- According to TRAI, network providers should use the nameidentity provided by telephone subscribers in their Customer Application Form (CAF) for CNAP, and all service providers should provide the facility to their subscribers upon request.
- This means the name used when purchasing a SIM card will be the one visible to the person being called.
- As for businesses that buy bulk connections, they will be given the option to show a ‘preferred name’ instead of the name appearing on the customer application form.
- This can either be the trademark name registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, GST Council, or other unique names registered with the government.
How does CNAP work?
- According to recommendations shared by the TRAI, network providers are to create and maintain a database that contains customer names along with their phone number.
- When a user gets a call, the network provider will refer and use the databases maintained by network providers to get the name of the caller and show it to the other person.
Benefit:
- The feature will allow users to see the caller’s name and might help combat spam and Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC).
- UCC or spam is an unwanted message or call that is received, which the recipient didn’t agree to receive, and it doesn’t match their registered preferences.
How is it different from services like Truecaller?
- Caller identification services like Truecaller are based on crowd-sourced information, which may not always be accurate.
- On the other hand, the CNAP database will be based on information obtained from the CAF, which is verified using Government-recognized identity proofs.
- Although the KYC process is not foolproof, the information from the CNAP database is likely to be more accurate compared to crowd-sourced services.
Ref:Source
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