Updated September 2026: in 2023 I asked why TRAI's DND app had disappeared from Apple's App Store, leaving iPhone users without an easy way to report spam calls and SMS. I have rewritten it into a guide to blocking and reporting spam on an iPhone in India, whatever the app's status.
The TRAI DND app let users register their preferences and report unsolicited calls and messages. On iPhone, it became slow and unresponsive, and was then no longer available on the App Store, reportedly because of compliance issues and a lack of updates for newer iOS versions. For iPhone users, reporting spam became harder just as spam calls increased. Check the App Store for the app's current status, but you do not depend on it.
How do you stop promotional calls and SMS in India?
Register your preferences through your operator. You can send an SMS to 1909 to block all commercial communication, or choose specific categories. Your operator's app or website usually offers the same setting. Registration takes effect within a few days.
How can you report spam from an iPhone?
- By SMS to 1909: report an unsolicited call or message with the number and date, following your operator's format.
- Through your operator's app, where spam reporting is offered.
- On Sanchar Saathi: the government's Chakshu facility lets you report suspected fraud calls and messages.
What can the iPhone do by itself?
Turn on Silence Unknown Callers in the Phone settings, which sends calls from numbers not in your contacts to voicemail. Filter unknown senders in Messages. Block individual numbers from the recent calls list. Some caller identification apps can also integrate with the Phone app to label likely spam.
What is the difference between spam and fraud?
Spam is unwanted marketing; fraud tries to steal money or information, often by impersonating a bank, courier or government agency. Never share OTPs or click links in unexpected messages. Report fraud attempts through Chakshu and, if you have lost money, to the national cybercrime helpline 1930 without delay.
Does reporting actually help?
Reports feed operator and regulator action against registered telemarketers and repeat offenders. Individual reports rarely produce visible results, but together they build the data used to disconnect numbers. Registering DND preferences has the most direct effect on your own phone.