Lok Sabha Question No. 2873 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-20
Subject: Sanchar Saathi
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Gautham Sigamani Pon

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2873 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## SANCHAR SAATHI

## 2873.   DR. PON GAUTHAM SIGAMANI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) whether it is a fact that Sanchar Saathi portal has received an impressive response from those who lost their mobile devices since its nationwide launch;

- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether it is also a fact that Sanchar Saathi has blocked almost 11 lakh mobiles, tracked several mobiles and handed over mobile devices to the owners; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) to (d) Government is committed to ensure safety and security of telecommunication users. Government  has  launched  Sanchar  Saathi  portal  (https://sancharsaathi.gov.in)  which  empowers citizens:

- (i) to  know  the  mobile  connections  issued  in  their  name  and  report  the  mobile connections for disconnection which are either not required or not taken by them,
- (ii) to report the stolen / lost mobile handset for blocking and tracing,
- (iii) to check the genuineness of mobile handset,
- (iv) to report the incoming international calls received with Indian telephone number as calling line identification,
- (v) to check the details of licensed wireline Internet Service Providers.

Citizens can report lost or stolen mobile phone by using 'Block Your Lost or Stolen Phone' facility of Sanchar Saathi portal by filling a simple online form. The portal is connected to more than 15,000 police stations across the states / UTs and can also be used by police for blocking the lost or stolen device reported by the citizens at police stations.

The reported mobile phones are blocked automatically in the networks of all the telecom service providers and such phones cannot be misused in India. If anyone tries to use the blocked mobile  phone,  traceability  information  is  generated  and  automatically  made  available  to  police station  concerned  and  to  the  citizen.  Once  mobile  phone  is  recovered  by  the  police  it  may  be unblocked on the portal for its normal use by the citizens. As on date the impact of 'Block Your Lost or Stolen Mobile' facility of Sanchar Saathi portal is as under:

|   1. | Mobile phones blocked using 'Block Your Lost or Stolen Mobile' facility   | 11.23 lakh   |
|------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|
|    2 | Mobile phones traced                                                      | 5.50 lakh    |
|    3 | Mobile handsets recovered by State Police and returned to citizens        | 61,578       |

Sanchar Saathi portal has become very popular in a short span of time and has been visited by 3.46 crore visitors as on date. Other notable achievements of Sanchar Saathi portal are as under:

|   1. | Number of mobile connections disconnected taken on fake/forged documents                                                                                              | 55.52 lakh                                    |
|------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
|    2 | Number of requests resolved under 'Know Your Mobile Connections' facility                                                                                             | 27 lakh                                       |
|    3 | Number of suspected mobile connections reported by citizens and disconnected failing re-verification                                                                  | 13.42 lakh                                    |
|    4 | Point of Sales (PoS) blacklisted                                                                                                                                      | 70,313                                        |
|    5 | Number of FIRs registered against errant PoSs                                                                                                                         | 365                                           |
|    6 | Number of mobile connections disconnected involved in cyber-crime / financial frauds as reported by law enforcement agencies on National Cyber Crime reporting portal | 2.78 lakh                                     |
|    7 | Mobile phones blocked for involvement in cyber- crime / financial frauds                                                                                              | 1.32 lakh                                     |
|    8 | Accounts disengaged by WhatsApp which were linked to disconnected mobile connections taken on fake / forged documents                                                 | 2.21 lakh                                     |
|    9 | No. of principle entities (PE) sending SMS, headers and content templates blocked                                                                                     | 19,776 PEs 30,700 headers 1.95 lakh templates |

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