Truecaller Introduces A Verified Govt Directory To Prevent Users From Scams

Sweden-based caller identification app Truecaller has introduced a digital directory of government officials on its platform. The directory includes verified numbers of officials working for the central and state government.

With this initiative, Truecaller aims to help its users connect with government officials and prevent them from fraud as well as scams. 

The newly introduced directory has currently covered about 20 ministries of the central government across 23 states and union territories. 

“We hope to help streamline public access to government representatives and assist our 240 Mn+ Indian users in connecting with the government in a hassle-free manner,” the company said. 

Truecaller also stated that it will update this feature in the coming months and add more verified numbers of government representatives to its directory. 

Explaining the new feature, it said that when a user’s phone rings, then the user will see a green background along with a blue tick, indicating that the number (of government representative) is verified. In this manner, users will be protected from scammers that impersonate themselves as government representatives. 

The government directory can only be accessed by Android mobile users in India.

The development comes almost three weeks after TRAI announced that it will be rolling out a KYC-based caller identification system akin to Truecaller. However, Truecaller’s CEO Alan Mamedi denied considering TRAI’s caller identification system a competition.

“Based on the information available at present, we do not see that this would be a competitive service comparable to the full range of services and functionality that Truecaller offers to our more than 310 Mn monthly active users,” Mamedi said. 

In July, the company reported that it witnessed a 15% year-on-year (YoY) growth in its monthly active users (MAUs) globally at 321.4 Mn during the April-June quarter of FY23. It further reported that India remained one of its biggest markets, growing a 14% YoY to 235.5 Mn MAUs during the corresponding quarter.

Focusing on the Indian market, the number of its daily active users (DAUs) soared to 194.4 Mn in the first quarter of FY23 as compared to 167.3 Mn DAUs reported in the same quarter last year (2023). Meanwhile, its global DAUs stood at 255.4 Mn during the first quarter of FY23.