"At the time when a call is incoming, the calling name presentation service presents the calling name identity of the calling user on the user terminal of the called user," the Indian Ministry of Communications wrote in a circular dated October 13, 2026.
What the Department of Telecommunications has ordered
The Department of Telecommunications has directed telecom service providers (TSPs) to begin mandatorily displaying callers' registered names along with their numbers for incoming calls on wireless terrestrial networks using 4G and newer generation technologies, starting November 1, 2026. The Ministry’s circular instructs TSPs to implement the Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) service to help users identify unknown numbers and reduce spam or fraudulent calls.
How Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) will appear to users
Under the new rules, each incoming call will present two display fields. The first field will show the caller’s number, unchanged from current practice. The second field will display the calling name identity according to a strict order of preference: if the callee has the number saved in their contacts, that contact name will appear; if not, the calling name identity as recorded in the originating operator’s subscriber database will be shown for domestic calls; calls originating from outside India will show the label "International Call."
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End the scrambleWhat originating and receiving TSPs must do
Originating TSPs are required to establish and maintain a database mapping subscribers’ names to their numbers. When a call is placed, the receiving operator will query the originating operator’s database to retrieve the calling name identity and present it to the called user. The circular specifies that "calling name identity is the name of the calling user as recorded in subscriber data record of the originating telecommunication service provider and such identity is included in the calling line identification of such user."
Options for privacy and business naming: CLIR and preferred names
Telecom operators are expected to provide a Calling Line Identification Restriction (CLIR) facility, allowing users to choose to hide their caller identity when making calls. For business and bulk connections, users may opt for a "preferred name" that replaces the calling name identity, but that name must be one of two narrowly defined types: a trade mark registered in the name of the user as per the records of the Trade Marks Registry under the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; or a trade name of the user as registered on the Goods and Services Tax portal.
For new connections, the circular requires the preferred name to be recorded in both the customer application form and the subscriber data record; the originating TSP must have original documents evidencing the user’s registration under that name and attach true copies to the application form.
Security, retention, and infrastructure requirements
The Ministry urged TSPs to adopt a "secure-by-design approach" when implementing CNAP and set out specific expectations: enforce that the calling name identity is not retained upon completion of the incoming call; maintain quality of service in accordance with applicable laws; and provision the necessary database, network, and connectivity infrastructure to support efficient processing of calling name identity queries. These instructions place operational and technical duties on operators to both implement the display feature and limit post-call retention of the displayed identity.
What this means for end users, telecom operators, and businesses
- End users: will see caller names more often for 4G-and-newer calls — either contact names or the originating operator’s recorded name — and will be offered a CLIR option to hide their own identity.
- Telecom operators (originating and receiving): must build and maintain subscriber name-to-number databases, support cross-operator queries for calling name identity, provision network and connectivity resources, and implement retention controls that ensure calling names are not kept after calls end.
- Businesses and bulk-account holders: can register a preferred name for display but must present documentary proof (registered trademark or GST-registered trade name) which originating TSPs will record and retain as true copies attached to application forms.
The circular sets a firm start date — November 1, 2026 — and confines the immediate rollout to wireless terrestrial 4G and newer networks while leaving CNAP for 2G, 3G and PSTN to be "taken up separately after examination." The Ministry’s combination of display rules, privacy options, and explicit infrastructure and retention requirements frames a tightly specified change in how incoming calls will be presented to users on modern mobile networks.
