Regulator says designated banking, government and promotional numbers must not be tagged or filtered.
Key Highlights
- TRAI has clarified that 1600 and 140 series calls cannot be tagged, blocked or filtered by apps.
- The 1600 series is reserved for banking, financial and government service communications.
- The 140 series is designated for promotional calls under TRAI regulations.
- Consumers can still manage promotional call preferences through the DND registry.
- Individual users may manually block specific numbers on their phones if required.
New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has clarified that third-party caller identification and call management applications cannot tag, block or filter calls originating from the designated 1600 and 140 number series.
According to the regulator, the 1600 series has been allocated for service and transaction-related communications by entities regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), as well as government departments.
TRAI said the objective behind introducing the dedicated 1600 series is to help citizens easily identify genuine and trustworthy calls. Therefore, applications that classify or filter incoming calls should not interfere with these communications. However, users can still manually block individual numbers through their device settings if they choose.
The regulator also clarified that the 140 series, designated for promotional calls, cannot be tagged or filtered by third-party apps. Businesses using the series must comply with the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR).
Customers who do not wish to receive promotional calls can register their preferences through the Do Not Disturb (DND) registry, the TRAI DND app, or their telecom operator’s website or mobile application.
