Dot Suspended USSD Based Call forwarding services in India today

If you use a mobile phone then this information is very important for you, because from today i.e. 15th April 2024, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has stopped USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) based call forwarding service across India. In the last few years, there has been a sharp increase in the cases of online fraud in India, in which many people have suffered losses of lakhs and crores due to unknown callers. In many of these cases, victims were cheated by sharing important information like OTP. To deal with this increasing online fraud, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had directed telecom operators to stop USSD based call forwarding service across India, which is effective from today.

A few days ago, DoT had issued a notice to telecom companies, ordering them to discontinue the existing USSD based call forwarding service. The notice dated March 28 said, “It has been decided that all operators will discontinue the existing USSD-based call forwarding service from April 15, 2024, until further notice.” The objective of this decision is to protect mobile users from becoming victims of fraud which puts their personal data and financial security at risk.

What is USSD?

USSD is a feature that allows users to access many phone services by dialing a special code on their keypad. A common use of USSD is to check your prepaid balance or provide information about your phone’s IMEI number. However, call forwarding could also be activated via USSD code, making it a better option for many users. However, fraudsters were using this service to commit scams, causing losses to users.

Reason behind closure

DoT observed significant vulnerabilities in the existing USSD system, which scammers have taken advantage of. These scams typically involve users activating call forwarding to a different number, allowing scammers to obtain personal information such as OTP to alter incoming calls and steal money. By shutting down the USSD based call forwarding service, DoT intends to reduce unauthorized call redirection and subsequent theft of personal information.

This is how you can turn it on

If you want to start call forwarding service in your phone, then for this you will have to go to the settings of the phone, after going to the call settings, you will see the option of call forwarding. In this way customers can activate call forwarding service in the phone.