Illegal routing of global calls has govt worried

Taking serious note of illegal routing of international calls, the Centre on Monday said it is probing the issue.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the Lok Sabha that some operators route international calls illegally by using data and not voice protocol.

This was in violation of the laid-down procedure, he said, adding that Telecom Enforcement Resources and Monitoring Cells constantly monitor, investigate and seek to control illegal routing of international calls.

The Department of Telecom has issued directions to all telecom service providers for effective monitoring, detection and prevention of such illegal routing. 

Prasad said, four such cases were unearthed in 2011, which had led to notional loss of nearly Rs 2.42 crore.

In 2012, a single case, which led to a loss of Rs 17.2 lakh, was unearthed.  But this year, nine cases have been detected so far, and they have led to a loss of Rs 1.86 crore.

The modus operandi is that the offender instals an illegal telephone set-up using hi-tech equipment, converts incoming international calls into data, and then again into local voice calls.