Over 13.6 million mobile numbers disconnected to check fraud: Scindia

New Delhi, July 30: Union Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya M. Scindia informed Parliament on Wednesday that over 13.6 million mobile numbers have been disconnected based on citizens’ feedback to curb telecom fraud.

The minister said that in a major nationwide push to curb cyber fraud and protect citizens from digital threats, the Government of India has rolled out a series of decisive, tech-enabled measures under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in close coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

A key feature introduced is the ‘Know Your Mobile Connections’ service, which allows users to check all numbers issued under their name and report any unauthorised connections. This has resulted in the disconnection of 13.6 million such numbers, he explained.

The minister said that DoT has also blocked 5.5 lakh handsets and deactivated 20,000 bulk SMS senders. Nearly 24 lakh WhatsApp accounts involved in suspicious activities have also been disengaged.

He highlighted that a Digital Intelligence Platform has been developed, bringing together 620 institutions, including 570 banks, 36 state police forces, investigative agencies, and telecom service providers, to jointly tackle fraud in real-time. The platform enables integrated action against scammers and cybercriminals who misuse telecom infrastructure to deceive citizens.

To further involve the public in this mission, the Government launched the Sanchar Saathi portal on May 16, 2023, which has since registered over 15.5 crore hits, indicating strong public awareness and participation. Building on this success, the Sanchar Saathi mobile app was launched on January 17, 2025, for both Android and iOS, and has received over 44 lakh downloads.

The Government has also deployed artificial intelligence tools, notably the ASTR system, to automatically detect and eliminate fake mobile numbers, leading to the disconnection of an additional 82 lakh such connections.