Truecaller is today a leading app for identifying spam calls and unknown numbers across the world, but its future in India seems to be in danger. Due to the CNAP (Calling Name Presentation) feature being introduced by the government, it is feared that the need for truecallers will end. Let us know the entire story of Trucker, from its beginning to the current crisis.
The foundation of Truecaller was laid in 2009 in Stockholm city of Sweden. Its founders were Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam, who were students of the Royal Institute of Technology. At that time both of them had to face the problem of calls coming from unknown numbers. He thought why not make an app that would reveal the identity of the caller.
TrueCaller was initially designed for BlackBerry phones, but soon became available on Android and iOS platforms. The company was named True Software Scandinavia AB, which is now a public company and listed on the stock exchange.
The success story of Truecaller is very interesting. In the initial days, this app was based on crowdsourcing, where users themselves used names and marked the numbers as spam. Due to this the database continued to grow. By 2012, Truecaller gained a lot of popularity globally, but its real takeoff in India started around 2014.
The problem of spam calls is very big in India. According to TRAI, crores of spam calls are reported every month. Truecaller has created more than 25 crore users here, which is its biggest market. To strengthen its hold in India, the company started local data storage and from 2018, the data of all Indian users started being kept in India only.
Today, most of Truecaller’s employees are Indians, and despite its headquarters being in Stockholm, India has become the backbone of the company. Recently, in November 2024, the founders stepped down from the operational role and appointed Rishit Jhunjhunwala as CEO, which points to a new phase for the company.
Truecaller’s business model is primarily freemium. Basic features are free, but premium subscription provides features like ad-free experience, advanced spam blocking and verified badges. The company’s revenue comes from ads, subscriptions and business solutions. But now the CNAP feature can change this whole story.
What is CNAP?
This is a network-level feature proposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which will show the name of the caller on the mobile network itself. That is, when a call comes from an unknown number, the name will automatically appear on the phone screen, without any third-party app. CNAP will be based on KYC (Know Your Customer) data, which is linked to government IDs, so it will be more accurate and reliable than Truecaller’s crowdsourced names.
TRAI has started CNAP as a pilot project, and it will soon be implemented on all telecom operators like Jio, Airtel and Vi. Its purpose is to reduce spam calls and increase user privacy.
Truecaller users need to install the app and give permissions like contacts, location, but there is no such thing in CNAP. In view of this, it is believed that despite having 25 crore users in India, people can uninstall Truecaller because CNAP will be free and built-in.
Experts believe that Truecaller will have to change its business model – perhaps by focusing on AI-based fraud detection or other value-added services. Otherwise its existence in India may be in danger.
Although Truecaller has not yet given any official statement on CNAP, company spokespersons have said that they are committed to user safety.
Will Truecaller be shut down completely?
Probably not, but there may be a big decline in its popularity in India. Innovation at one time appears to be outdated the next moment.
