Govt disconnects over 82 lakh fraudulent mobile connections via ASTR

New Delhi: India has disconnected over 82 lakh fraudulent mobile connections through the Artificial Intelligence and Facial Recognition powered Telecom SIM Subscriber Verification (ASTR) tool, Union Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said on Friday.

Addressing the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Roundtable on "Implementing ITU Standards to Combat Fraudulent Communications" on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2026 here, the minister said the country has built a robust and layered defence mechanism against telecom-related fraud and cybercrime.

He noted that organised fraud networks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with scams involving impersonation, so-called digital arrests, AI-generated voice cloning and deepfakes posing significant challenges. According to the minister, Indians lost more than Rs 22,800 crore to such fraud in 2024.

Dr Pemmasani said India has adopted a five-layered approach to tackle fraudulent communications. This includes real-time blocking of spoofed international calls, identification and disconnection of suspicious mobile connections through the ASTR platform, citizen participation via the Sanchar Saathi initiative, intelligence sharing through the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), and targeted action against emerging fraud channels.

Highlighting the impact of these initiatives, he said the Sanchar Saathi app has been downloaded around 25 million times, enabling citizens to actively participate in reporting suspected fraud and misuse of telecom resources.

The minister added that the Digital Intelligence Platform currently connects more than 1,600 organisations, including telecom service providers, banks and law-enforcement agencies, facilitating real-time information sharing to detect and prevent fraudulent activities.

He further said that the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator has helped avert suspected financial losses exceeding Rs 5,000 crore over the past 15 months by enabling timely intervention against fraudulent transactions.

Emphasising the need for international collaboration, Dr Pemmasani said fraud has become a global problem that requires coordinated global solutions.

He underscored the importance of adopting international standards for digital verification of caller identities across networks to curb cross-border fraud.

Welcoming the ITU's proposal for joint trials among governments, regulators, telecom operators and technology companies, he said India is ready to participate and contribute to the development of global frameworks for trusted communications.

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