Airtel takes spam fight global: adds vernacular alerts, blocks international scam calls

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaApril 22, 2025

Airtel is doubling down on its commitment to protect customers from spam and scam communications. Building on the success of its AI-powered spam detection system launched in September 2024, the telecom giant today announced two key upgrades aimed at closing loopholes exploited by fraudsters: multilingual spam alerts and expanded coverage for international calls and messages.

With over 27.5 billion spam calls flagged since launch — a staggering 1,560 spam calls every second — Airtel’s AI-driven solution has already proven its value. Now, the company is pushing the envelope further.

For a country as linguistically diverse as India, communication in local languages matters. Airtel will now issue spam alerts in ten Indian languages: Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Punjabi, and Urdu. These alerts will appear when users receive potentially fraudulent calls or texts, improving accessibility and helping more customers recognize and avoid scams in real-time.

This feature is currently available for Android users, with plans to broaden accessibility in future updates. More languages will be added based on customer feedback and regional demand.

While Airtel’s domestic spam protection has reduced spam calls by 16%, fraudsters have pivoted, increasingly using foreign networks to target Indian users. According to Airtel, international spam calls have jumped 12% in the past six months. The updated AI tool will now scan and flag all incoming international SMS and calls, ensuring spam doesn’t sneak in from overseas.

Airtel’s new features come at no extra cost. There’s no need for customers to opt in — these protections will be automatically enabled for all users, offering seamless security without any action required.

Siddharth Sharma, Director of Marketing and CEO of Connected Homes at Bharti Airtel, emphasized that the move is a direct response to customer concerns: “Customers and their feedback are at the heart of everything we do. By expanding language support and closing the international spam loophole, we deliver what users need most — peace of mind and real-time protection, without complexity.”

Airtel’s anti-spam initiative continues to stand out as India’s first telco-led, AI-powered spam protection system, and with these latest upgrades, the company is signalling its determination to stay a step ahead of scammers — wherever they are.

Bottom Line: Airtel is not just fighting spam — it’s adapting, evolving, and scaling its solutions to protect users in every language, on every call, from every corner of the globe.