When your phone rings, who's really calling?

Indian telcos are experimenting with Al as a defense.

- By Jatinder Singh | [e-mail]

EVERY DAY, millions of Indians answer phone calls only to be welcomed by a stranger! A telemarketer pushing loans, an insurance agent trying to sell a policy, or worse, a scammer using a voice that sounds unnervingly real. Some of these calls are just frustrating. Others are sophisticated, AI-driven attempts to steal money or personal data.

The Hiya Global Call Threat Report 2025 identified approximately 137 million suspected spam calls daily worldwide, with India being a significant contributor to this number.

Surveys further indicate that many consumers in India receive at least three spam calls a day, often involving emotional manipulation or financial scams that aim to exploit their trust and confidence.

For a country with over 1.2 billion mobile subscribers, multiple languages, and varying digital literacy, curbing this menace is no small feat.

AI steps into the fray

While spam calls are a universal issue, Indian telcos are experimenting with AI as a defense. Bharti Airtel, for instance, recently reported that its network-level AI solutions resulted in a 68.7% decrease in financial losses and a 14.3% drop in overall cybercrime incidents, according to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C).

As an Airtel subscriber, you may notice that suspicious calls are now flagged before your phone rings, eliminating the need for third-party apps that often compromise your privacy. “We see this as a small step in a much larger fight. We will continue to innovate until our networks are free of digital spam and scams,” says Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman & MD, Bharti Airtel.

Unlike traditional spam-blocking apps that rely on user reporting, Airtel’s system operates deep within the network, analyzing billions of calls and links daily to detect suspicious patterns automatically.