Need multi-stakeholder system to combat digi fraud: Bharti Airtel MD

India needs a multi-stakeholder framework that balances trust, security, and regulation to ensure user safety in an increasingly digital world, Bharti Airtel Managing Director and Vice-Chairman (MD & VC) Gopal Vittal said.

 

Speaking at the India Mobile Congress 2025, Vittal said: “Connectivity today is like a fundamental right. If it’s taken away, the impact is catastrophic — from banking and aviation to payments. But beyond connectivity, the real questions are about trust, security, and inclusion."

 

Telecom regulations in the country needed to keep up with the ever-evolving digital risk landscape, he said, adding that though all telecom service providers faced stringent governmental and regulatory oversight, most of the players as well as the digital economy ecosystem still operated “like the Wild West”.

 

Overall, the company had blocked 48 billion spam messages and 3.5 lakh fraudulent links since the spam detection and blocking initiative was launched in September last year.

 

“Designed as a dual-layer protection, the solution has two filters — one at the network layer, and the second at the information technology (IT) systems layer. Every call and SMS passes through this dual-layered artificial intelligence (AI) shield. In 2 milliseconds, our solution processes 1.5 billion messages and 2.5 billion calls every day," Vittal had said during the September 2024 launch of the spam protection initiative.

 

In September of this year, Bharti Airtel announced that its initiatives against fraud had helped reduce financial losses for its customers by nearly 70 per cent.

 

“However, we see this as small steps in a much larger fight. We will continue to innovate and invest heavily in this area until our networks are free of digital spam and scam,” Vittal had then said.

 

During the panel discussion on Wednesday, Vittal said that no company could take on this challenge alone, adding that there was a need for a global institution such as a “fraud bureau” that could bring together all stakeholders to combat such spam, scam, and digital threats.

 

Earlier this year in June, Vittal wrote to banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), proposing closer collaboration that included sharing knowledge and intelligence on flagged and known fraudulent domains.