RCS messages can be viewed in the Google Messages app available on most Android phones. (Image: Google)Google has upgraded its Rich Communications Services (RCS) messaging platform with spam filters and anti-fraud measures developed by Airtel to protect users from the surge in online scams targeting mobile subscribers in India.The Indian telecom giant announced on Sunday, March 1, that it has partnered with Google to roll out its AI-powered spam filters and threat detection technology for RCS chats within the Google Messages app available on most Android smartphones.Under this partnership, Google’s RCS platform will leverage Airtel’s ‘intelligence’ to validate a message sender’s identity based on business identity checks carried out by the telco. Additionally, it will enable the RCS platform to respect users’ DND (Do Not Disturb) preferences by categorising communications as promotional or transactional and imposing restrictions, accordingly.Furthermore, if both Google and Airtel’s AI-powered spam filters identify a sender as suspicious, the platform will limit or ‘throttle’ how many messages that account can send.The Airtel and Google partnership moves beyond spam and scam protection at the TSP-level to OTT communication platforms. It comes amid a series of disagreements on policy issues between telecom operators and tech companies in India, with one such issue being the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT’s) SIM-binding mandate that went into effect from March 1, 2026.The DoT directive means that users of online messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram will no longer be able to access the platforms without a SIM card with which they have registered for the services on their phones. The directive also requires that companion web instances, such as WhatsApp Web, not be available uninterrupted to users, who will be automatically logged out every six hours.Also Read | DoT directive: 5 in 10 users do not support SIM-binding by messaging apps, survey finds“In a pioneering initiative, we have now partnered with Google to extend customer protection beyond the telco domain and made the rich messaging platform safer and more secure. We now call on the broader OTT communication platforms to work with us and make sure that customers are protected from the spam and financial fraud menace,” Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice Chairman, Bharti Airtel, said in a press release.Story continues below this adAirtel claims that its anti-spam/scam measures have led to the blocking of a total of 71 billion spam calls and 2.9 billion spam SMSes on its network in the country, leading to a 68.7 per cent decrease in the value of financial losses suffered by scam victims.“We are committed to continuing to work with the broader ecosystem of carriers to standardise messaging security and create a consistent and trusted messaging experience for all RCS messaging users around the world,” Sameer Samat, President, Android Ecosystem at Google, said.RCS is the next generation of open messaging standards and protocols, which is meant to replace the older SMS and MMS.As the name suggests, it is supposed to ensure that users can enjoy rich communication over their standard messaging app. This would include the ability to share high quality videos and photos, ensure chats over Wi-Fi or data, get read receipts for messages, group chats, etc.Story continues below this adIn simple terms, RCS would ensure that the Messages app on your phone has a lot more features, compared to what the simple SMS/MMS protocols would allow.