Why government has asked Reliance Jio, Airtel and other telcos to block 28,200 phones, reverify 20 lakh mobile connections

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has directed telecom operators, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and others to block 28,200 mobile phones for their alleged link with cyber crimes. These telecom companies have also been asked to carry out immediate reverification of 20 lakh mobile connections in the country.
“Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and State Police have joined hands for curbing the misuse of telecom resources in cyber-crime and financial frauds,” said an official statement.
It also said that this “collaborative effort aims to dismantle networks of fraudsters and protect citizens from digital threats.”
According to the statement, analysis carried out by MHA and state police has revealed that 28,200 mobile handsets were misused in cybercrimes. On further analysis, the DoT found that 20 lakh numbers were used with these mobile handsets
“Subsequently, DoT issued directions to telecom service providers for pan India blocking of 28,200 mobile handsets and to carry out immediate reverification of 20 lakh mobile connections linked to these mobile handsets and disconnect failing re-verification,” the statement said.
Telecom department has flagged 10,834 suspected mobile numbers
The DoT launched the Chakshu portal in March to handle telecom fraud-related grievances. Since then, the department has reportedly blacklisted 52 entities involved in sending malicious and phishing SMSes.
It has also blocked 348 mobile handsets across the country, and flagged 10,834 suspected mobile numbers for re-verification, as per news agency PTI.
Additionally, the DoT has blocked 1.58 lakh unique mobile device identification number, called IMEI, due to involvement in cyber crimes and financial frauds or mobile connections taken on fake or forged documents.
Till April 30 this year, DoT disconnected 1.66 crore mobile connections. Of these connections, 30.14 lakh were disconnected based on users' feedback and 53.78 lakh for exceeding the individual limit to buy new SIM cards, the news agency cited official data as saying.