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 today i.e. from 15th April 2024, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has discontinued USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) based call forwarding service across India. In the last few years, there has been a rapid increase in cases of online fraud in India, in which many people have lost lakhs and crores due to unknown callers. In many of these cases, the victims were cheated by sharing important information like OTP. To deal with this increasing online fraud, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had instructed telecom operators to discontinue USSD based call forwarding service across India, which is coming into effect 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 March 28 notice said that “It has been decided that all operators will discontinue the existing USSD-based call forwarding service from April 15, 2024, until further notice.” The decision is aimed at protecting mobile users from falling prey to fraud that puts their personal data and financial security at risk.

What is USSD?

USSD is a feature that allows users to access several phone services by dialing special codes on their keypad. A common use of USSD is to check your prepaid balance or to find out your phone’s IMEI number. However, call forwarding could also be activated through USSD codes, making it a better option for many users. However, frauds were using this service to scam users, causing harm to them.

Reason behind closure

DoT found several loopholes in the existing USSD system which were being exploited by scammers. These scams typically involve users activating call forwarding to a different number, allowing scammers to divert incoming calls and obtain personal information such as OTPs to steal money. By discontinuing the USSD-based call forwarding service, DoT intends to reduce unauthorized call redirection and subsequent theft of personal information.

You can turn it on like this

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