COAI urges Centre to persistently bind OTT communication apps to SIM cards

New Delhi, Aug 6 Telecom industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Wednesday urged the government to bind OTT communication apps with the verified mobile SIM card of the users at all times.

Currently, a subscriber's app-based communication services such as WhatsApp are connected to their mobile SIM card only during installation and verification, after which the app works independently on the device even if the SIM card is removed or deactivated, COAI said.

The industry body called for the Centre's intervention in light of the increasing number of digital scams and challenges to national security.

Despite the best efforts of telecom operators to implement spam protection measures, fraudsters avoid these security-checks by shifting to over-the-top (OTT) messaging platforms that operate independently of SIM verification, the statement said.

“All OTT communication apps should be mandated to bind with the verified mobile SIMs at all times to ensure cyber fraud prevention and to strengthen national security. This approach would ensure consumer trust, accountability, traceability and alignment with existing regulatory frameworks," the statement added.

India’s mobile network operators are proactively implementing Caller Name Presentation (CNAP) and suspected spam protection measures on voice calls and SMS, the industry body informed. The telecom operators are also implementing TCCCPR related checks such as Principal entity (PE)-Telemarketer (TM) binding, Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS header and content registration and keyword-based content screening of messages.

"However, fraudsters are increasingly adapting by shifting to OTT messaging platforms that are installed or used independent of SIM verification and are immune to telecom-level controls," COAI stated.

Persistent SIM-binding for OTT communication apps will prevent the communication service from running without the authenticated SIM in the device, maintaining user, number, and device traceability.

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