NEW DELHI, October 6 — The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the Ministry of Communications on Tuesday rolled out 'Chakshu 2.0', an advanced artificial intelligence-powered fraud-mitigation engine integrated into the citizen-centric Sanchar Saathi portal, designed to preemptively detect and sever telecom assets weaponized in cyber financial extortion and 'digital arrest' scams.
Department officials reported that the upgraded analytical platform utilizes real-time telecom graph modeling and biometric face-matching algorithms to cross-verify point-of-sale franchise documentation against national identity registers. During initial validation deployments, the automated system facilitated the instant disconnection of over 2.2 million fraudulent SIM connections and blacklisted more than 150,000 International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) terminal devices linked to criminal operations.
Chakshu 2.0 allows citizens to report unsolicited or fraudulent communications received via SMS, WhatsApp, or voice calls directly to law enforcement authorities. The infrastructure establishes automated, low-latency API handshakes with the Ministry of Home Affairs' Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and reserve banking networks, permitting instant freezing of mule bank accounts tied to reported malicious numbers before cyber fraud proceeds are diverted.
Statutory provisions under the Telecommunications Act 2023, cybersecurity architectures, I4C operational mechanisms, and critical information infrastructure protection (NCIIPC) are recurring topics in UPSC Civil Services (GS-III: Internal Security and Cybersecurity). Candidates should recall that the Telecommunications Act, 2023, which repealed the archaic Indian Telegraph Act of 1885, stipulates severe penal provisions including up to three years' imprisonment and fines up to ₹50 lakh for obtaining SIM cards through deceptive or forged identity representations.