Say goodbye to unknown callers: India to roll out verified caller ID by 2026

Pilot trials for the CNAP service have begun in Haryana with Vodafone Idea, while Jio and Airtel prepare similar tests across northern circles, aiming for nationwide deployment by December 2025 ahead of the March 2026 deadline

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is gearing up to launch the Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) service across India by March 2026, enabling mobile users to see the verified names of incoming callers directly on their phone screens. Designed to enhance transparency and curb spam calls, CNAP uses telecom operators’ verified KYC data instead of third-party databases.

Pilot tests underway in Haryana

Pilot deployments have already begun in Haryana, with Vodafone Idea initiating live trials and Reliance Jio preparing to follow suit in the same telecom circle. Bharti Airtel is also expected to conduct early-stage pilots across northern regions as part of the initial rollout phase. According to senior officials, the internal goal is to begin national deployment by December 2025, although March 31, 2026, remains the official deadline. The next phase of testing will focus on interoperability between networks — ensuring caller names display correctly when users connect across different operators.

Officials explained that the trials are aimed at fine-tuning network performance, improving display accuracy, and resolving issues related to enterprise and family-linked numbers. “The objective isn’t to wait for perfection. Once the service functions reliably in most cases, nationwide expansion will follow,” a DoT official noted.

Limited support for legacy networks

The CNAP system has already undergone successful inter-operator tests for 4G and 5G networks in Haryana and Maharashtra, with Airtel, Jio, and Vi participating under DoT supervision. However, around 200 million subscribers on 2G networks may be excluded initially, as the older infrastructure lacks the necessary software upgrades to support the feature.

To enable CNAP and related services such as spam analytics and international call filtering, Airtel and Vodafone Idea have partnered with Nokia to deploy the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) platform nationwide. Jio, which operates exclusively on 4G and 5G, has developed its CNAP technology in-house and is expected to roll out the service sooner.

The DoT has confirmed that CNAP will be enabled by default for all users, with the option to opt out, marking a major step toward greater caller transparency and user protection in India’s telecom ecosystem.