Department of Telecommunications has announced the closure of USSD based services to telecom companies from today, due to which some users may have to face a lot of problems. But the government has announced to stop such services in order to prevent online fraud.
This is an important information for smartphone users, because from today USSD based call forwarding service is being stopped across the country. An order has been given by the Department of Telecom i.e. DoT, under which telecom companies like Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea will have to stop USSD code based call forwarding feature like *401#. This rule is being implemented across the country from 15th April 2024 i.e. today.
Why is this call forwarding service being stopped?
According to the Department of Telecommunications, online fraud was being carried out with the help of USSD based codes. Actually, this code based service was rolled out for the convenience of the users. But scammers were using this code wrongly and committing fraud. In such a situation, an order has been issued to completely shut down this service from April 15, 2024. Apart from this, to help the users, the government has suggested the telecom companies to look for another option instead of the call forwarding feature.
What is USSD code?
This is a short code like *401#, with the help of this type of code the balance in the phone can be checked. Also, information about callback service, money related services can be obtained. With its help the IMEI number can be detected. Not only this, with the help of call forwarding service, you could forward the call coming to your number to another number. For this you had to dial *401# on your mobile number.
