India's DoT plans unified interactive portal

To consolidate information about the telecom industry and users, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to develop a unified interactive portal.

According to an ET report, the portal will be developed in phases, to integrate all relevant websites into a single portal, within a year.

The Digital Communications Commission (DCC) has already cleared the proposal and work will on the portal will start soon. It will be developed by the DoT under its newly formed telecom transformation division and will house all information concerning Acts, policies and consumer initiatives relevant to the DoT.

As of now, there exists more than ten websites function on behalf of the DoT including 'Sanchar Saathi', 'Saral Sanchar' to tackle issues, that leads users or telecoms to submit compliances on different portals.

Sanchar Saathi portal is a citizen-centric initiative enables citizens to effectively manage and monitor the mobile connections registered under their name, while also providing valuable features such as disconnecting unnecessary connections, tracking lost phones, and verifying the authenticity of devices during new or used purchases. The portal incorporates two significant modules known as Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) and Telecom Analytics for Fraud Management and Consumer Protection (TAFCOP). That apart, DoT runs another initiative named Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) for coordination among the stakeholders to curb misuse of telecom resources in cyber-crime and financial frauds, and ‘Chakshu’ facility on Sanchar Saathi portal, initiative empowering citizens to proactively report suspected fraud communication.

Among other platforms, Saral Sanchar ( Simplified Application For Registration and Licenses) is a web-based portal, for issuing of various types of licenses and registration certificates.