Dubai: Have you recently started getting names of companies blinking on your phone, when you get a call, instead of a regular landline number or mobile number showing up?
This is because the UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) has started implementing the ‘Kashif’ initiative, that is aimed at empowering phone users to know which company is calling them, so that they can decide on whether they wish to take the call or not.
The feature of displaying the name of the calling entity from private sector companies in the UAE was initially started with just the banking sector, but will soon be expanded to the health, hospitality, education and other sectors. In 2022, the feature is expected to be applied to all private sector companies in the UAE. This would include landline numbers as well as mobile numbers registered under private sector companies showing up with the registered company’s name on your phone.
“[This] informs customers about the caller’s ID, even if the caller’s contact information is not saved on the phone. This feature, which was launched by TDRA in cooperation with the service providers, aims to reduce anonymous calls received by customers and provides the caller’s information to the recipient before answering the call,” the statement from TDRA read.
TDRA initiated the implementation of this feature with the banking sector, to be applied to the rest of the sectors such as health, hospitality, education and other sectors on a later stage. This feature will be applied to all private sector companies during 2022, and it will include fixed and mobile numbers registered under private sector companies.
Exercise caution
While the service informs users of where they are getting the call, TDRA urged mobile phone users to continue exercising precautions like not revealing their personal information such as bank account number, PIN codes, passwords and others to anyone calling them.
