Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for a global mechanism to stop cyberfraud before it reaches people, saying such crimes have no borders and that deepfakes pose a major challenge.
Inaugurating the 10th edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) in Delhi, Modi said telecom companies, financial institutions and regulators must work together on the effort.
He said fraud had to be stopped at the source rather than after citizens had been targeted.
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At the start of his address, Modi condoled the death of veteran actor Nana Patekar.
LIVE: PM Narendra Modi inaugurates the 10th edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) | Speech | Delhi SOURCE: DD #pmmodi #imc #delhi #indiamobilecongress #live https://t.co/SmwqxxEfAP
— ANI (@ANI) October 8, 2026
The theme of this year's IMC is "Scale Without Boundaries". Modi noted that he had launched 5G at the 2022 edition of the event, and said the technology had since reached every district of the country.
According to him, 5.5 lakh base stations now run India's 5G network, and mobile internet speeds have risen 10 times since 2022. He said the IMC had played an important role in India's telecom journey.
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Turning to the digital divide, Modi said that until a decade ago it was a massive challenge in India, with modern technology effectively a privilege for those with resources.
The Digital India campaign, he said, was launched to change this, with the mobile phone placed at its centre. He described it as a massive effort towards the democratisation of technology, and said the divide had now been resolved.
The prime minister said the government had urged the manufacture of mobile phones and telecom hardware in India, and that the country was now making them domestically.
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He said mobile phones had transformed hugely and were becoming an important tool for good governance, with all government services now available on handsets.
Modi said mobile phones had also widened access to education. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he said, telecom networks helped connect 25 crore students. He added that Rs 50 lakh crore had been sent to beneficiaries through direct benefit transfers.
The IMC is among India's largest annual gatherings of the telecom and technology industry.
The warning on fraud comes as deepfakes and online scams have become a growing concern for regulators and users, even as digital payments and mobile-based services expand.
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