Telecom operators have been instructed to prepare their networks to be able to handle this feature without affecting call quality, or by compromising user privacy by retaining names displayed to end users in any way whatsoever. File photo for representational purposes only.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
All telecom operators are now required to display the Know Your Customer-linked (KYC) names of incoming callers, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) mandated in a circular dated Tuesday (October 15, 2026).
The ‘Caller Name Presentation’, or CNAP, has been in the works for years, and in recent months, telecom companies were displaying caller names for calls between their own subscribers.
The circular comes into force on November 1, and telecom operators have been instructed to prepare their networks to be able to handle this feature without affecting call quality, or by compromising user privacy by retaining names displayed to end users in any way whatsoever.
The CNAP system has been proposed since 2022, when the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) put out a consultation paper on the subject. While some civil society and industry bodies raised privacy issues, TRAI and the government reasoned that the measure was important to prevent spam callers from assuming fraudulent identities, and that only call receivers got the other person’s identity, not the call placer.
Pilots within each telecom company’s own network were underway in 2025. The only people exempt are those who qualify for the Caller Line Identity Restriction (CLIR), such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, and other senior officials and intelligence agencies.
For users who got their SIM cards as minors under a parent’s name, CNAP shows their parents’ names, necessitating an ownership transfer. Depending on the telecom company, this may involve the adult family member’s cooperation in initiating and finalising the transfer.
“Each TSP (telecom service provider) shall put in place appropriate technical and organisational measures to receive, record and maintain grievances received from users in respect of calling name presentation service, and shall redress such grievances through its grievance redressal mechanism in a time bound manner,” the DoT said in its circular. “The Central government may issue such instructions and clarifications as it may deem necessary in this connection.”
Published – October 15, 2026 06:52 pm IST
