Truecaller launches in app digital government directory to support seamless interaction between citizens of India and the Government by giving easy access to thousands of verified contacts of government officials. This is an important step to build trust in citizen services by protecting users from any scams, fraud and spam.
The digital government directory gives access to helplines, law enforcement agencies, embassies, educational institutes, hospitals, and other key departments of about 23 states including union territories to Truecaller app users. This information has been sourced directly from the government, and official government sources. This initiative is aimed at helping and streamlining public access to government representatives and assisting over 240 million Indian Truecaller users in connecting with the government in a hassle-free manner.
Based on interactions with netizens and relevant stakeholders, Truecaller has learnt that one of the most pervasive scams on the phone involves impersonation of government officials. The creation of a verified government contact directory is a continuation of Truecaller’s efforts to build trust in communication and protect our users from frauds and scams. Users will see a green background and a blue tick, indicating that the number is verified. Truecaller is working with different government departments to expand the directory and is looking at adding contacts at the district and municipal levels in the next phase, based on user feedback. Truecaller has also created a simple process for any government agency to share information and get verified on the directory.
Commenting on the launch of the feature, Pragya Misra, Director of Public Affairs, Truecaller said that “Truecaller has evolved to become more than just a Caller Identification app and is today bridging the digital divide between the urban and growing semi-urban/rural markets in India by enabling trust in digital communication. Our attempt is to protect people from widespread impersonation of government officials leading to scams and frauds. We believe that with this feature, citizens can easily reach out to the right authorities when in need. This is a first of its kind digital directory of government numbers and we will keep improving on it based on user feedback. We will continue to align our efforts to make communication safe by building trust.”