Seeing names when receiving calls from unknown numbers on your phone: Here’s what has changed
Seeing a caller’s name flash on your phone screen even when the number is not saved in your phone book? This is because telecom operators have expanded the rollout of Calling Name Presentation (CNAP), a feature that shows the registered name of the person calling, aimed at reducing spam and fraud calls. The feature was first launched in pilot in October 2025, with an all-India rollout expected by March 31, 2026. The rollout follows directions from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which has been pushing operators to introduce network-level solutions to improve transparency and curb misuse of telecom services.
Why Calling Name Presentation
Currently, only the mobile/ landline numbers are being displayed as Calling Line Identification (CLI) during incoming calls. Most users relied on third-party apps like Truecaller to identify the name of the caller. With Calling Name Presentation or CNAP, the caller’s name will appear automatically during incoming calls, even from unknown numbers, using information available with telecom operators.
“At present, smartphone users make use of native smartphone tools and third-party apps to identify the calling party name and mark spam calls. Apple (manufacturer of iPhones) has a ‘silence unknown numbers’ feature on its mobile handsets. The Google Phone app for Android has a ‘caller ID and spam’ protection option that allows phone users to mark incoming calls as spam,” TRAI said in its consultation paper in 2022. “Third-party apps like ‘Truecaller’ and ‘Bharat Caller ID & Anti-spam’ also provide calling party name identification and spam identification facilities. The native smartphone tools and third party apps, generally, provide name identification services based on crowd-sourced data. However, the crowd-sourced name identity information may not be reliable, in many instances,” it added.
How CNAP works
At the time of connection, users are required to fill customer acquisition forms. The CNAP feature uses these details shared by customers to reveal their identity. Once the rollout is complete, CNAP will be enabled by default. For now, it does not cover landline users or people using feature phones on 2G networks.
