TRAI has issued a press release to clarify the functioning of the designated 1600 and 140 number series, following reports in sections of the media that could lead to misinformation or misinterpretation. The regulator said it has reserved the 1600xx series for service and transactional calls that entities regulated by the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, and PFRDA make to their existing customers, as well as for calls that government departments make for government-to-citizen communication.
According to TRAI, the objective is to help customers identify trusted and important calls. Meanwhile, businesses across sectors use the 140xx series exclusively for promotional calls.
However, entities must register with telecom service providers under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR) before using these numbers. TRAI also reiterated that consumers retain control over whether they receive promotional calls by registering their preferences on the Do Not Disturb (DND) registry.
When can these numbers be tagged, blocked, or filtered?
- 1600 series: Calls cannot be tagged, blocked, or filtered under the TCCCPR.
- 140 series: Calls cannot be tagged or filtered. However, they may be blocked only if a customer has opted out of receiving promotional calls from the relevant sector through the DND registry.
TRAI’s enforcement push against call tagging
The clarification follows TRAI’s recent push to expand its enforcement powers against third-party call management applications. Earlier this month, the regulator sought designation as an “authorised agency” under the Information Technology Act to act against platforms such as Truecaller, Hiya and Whoscall, which it alleges incorrectly tag or block calls originating from the designated 1600 and 140 series.
TRAI argues that such practices undermine the purpose of these numbering series by discouraging businesses and government entities from using them, potentially pushing legitimate callers back to ordinary 10-digit numbers and weakening consumer trust.
Attempt to regulate OTT apps through an amendment
The clarification also comes as TRAI’s proposed amendments to the TCCCPR faced criticism from the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). The industry body has argued that provisions requiring call management applications to report user spam complaints to telecom operators and prohibiting them from tagging, blocking, or filtering calls from the designated 140 and 1600 series exceed TRAI’s statutory remit.
It has also opposed a proposal that would allow TRAI to initiate action under the Information Technology Act against non-compliant intermediaries, which could ultimately affect their Section 79 safe harbour protections. Furthermore, IAMAI contended that compelling OTT platforms to share proprietary data with telecom operators amounts to unconstitutional expropriation and conflicts with established protections under the…
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