Airtel Urges BSNL, Jio, and Vi to Collaborate in Combating Cyber Fraud in Telecom Sector: Report

Airtel Urges BSNL, Jio, and Vi to Collaborate in Combating Cyber Fraud in Telecom Sector: Report
Bharti Airtel Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Gopal Vittal has proposed the formation of an industry-wide platform to combat the growing threat of cyber fraud, calling on peers Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea, and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to join hands in a Joint Telecom Fraud Initiative.

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Airtel urges Industry Collaboration

In a letter dated May 14, reviewed by Business Standard, Vittal urged India’s telecom operators to work collaboratively to curb the surge in cybercrime, particularly those involving malicious uniform resource locator (URL) links that deceive users into revealing sensitive financial information or making fraudulent payments.

The move comes amid heightened government scrutiny and new cybersecurity compliance norms being rolled out in response to escalating geopolitical tensions, particularly with Pakistan. According to data from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, India recorded over 1.7 million cybercrime complaints in the first nine months of 2024, resulting in financial losses exceeding Rs 11,000 crore.

According to the report, Vittal noted that fraudulent URLs are responsible for nearly half of all financial losses from cybercrime, while phishing calls, messages, and sophisticated digital frauds make up the rest.

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Vision for Unified Telecom Security Framework

“Given this growing threat, we believe it is crucial for the industry to come together to respond in a unified manner. In this spirit, we propose the creation of a Joint Telecom Fraud Initiative, comprising all telecom service providers, to work together to prevent, detect, and mitigate potential fraud and scam flowing through our networks,” Vittal stated in the letter, according to the report.