TRAI says don't tag 1600 banking calls as spam, seeks powers to regulate apps like Truecaller

TRAI has clarified that apps cannot tag or block calls from designated 1600 and 140 number series, saying the rules are meant to make important banking and promotional calls more trustworthy. The clarification comes amid its ongoing dispute with Truecaller over spam call identification.

In Short

• TRAI defends 1600 and 140 number series rules
• Truecaller opposes proposal to restrict call tagging
• DND remains the only way to block 140 promotional calls

India's telecom regulator has stepped in to clear the air over its rules for special phone number series after reports and public debate created confusion around how apps such as Truecaller can identify calls. The clarification comes days after reports emerged that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is seeking authorisation from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to regulate call management apps as part of its broader fight against spam and fraudulent calls.

In an official statement, TRAI said some media reports had led to "misinformation or misinterpretation" about how the designated 1600 and 140 number series are meant to operate.

What are 1600 and 140 numbers?

According to TRAI, the 1600 number series is reserved for important service and transaction-related calls. These numbers can be used only by regulated entities in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector—such as organisations regulated by RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA—to contact their existing customers. Government departments can also use the series for citizen communication.

The regulator said the purpose of introducing this dedicated number series is to help people identify genuine service calls and build trust. Under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR), telecom operators or apps are not allowed to tag, block or filter calls originating from 1600 numbers.

The 140 number series, meanwhile, is meant for promotional calls across all industries. Businesses using these numbers must register with telecom service providers and follow TRAI's commercial communication rules.

Users can choose whether they want to receive such promotional calls by registering their preferences under the Do Not Disturb (DND) system. If a customer has blocked promotional calls from a particular sector, those calls can be stopped through the DND framework. However, TRAI said apps should not independently tag or filter these calls, as doing so could mislead users who have opted to receive them.

The disagreement with Truecaller

The clarification follows reports that TRAI wants legal authority from MeitY to regulate call management apps more strictly. The regulator has also proposed new rules under the Draft Telecom Commercial Communication Preference (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026, which would prevent such apps from tagging, blocking or otherwise treating calls from designated commercial communication number series differently. Truecaller CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala has strongly opposed the proposal, arguing that it could reduce transparency for users, according to PTI.

"What happened was that the number of spam calls made through the 140/1600 number series skyrocketed! Over 51 million calls from both series go unanswered every single day," he said.

Jhunjhunwala claimed that in the past eight months, Truecaller users ignored 81 per cent of calls from the 140 series and 79 per cent of calls from the 1600 series because they no longer trusted those numbers. He also said blocking of 1600-series numbers has increased significantly, adding that users manually block around 4 lakh calls from the 140 series and 1.25 lakh calls from the 1600 series every day.

Defending Truecaller's approach, he said the company introduced a "Frequently Blocked" badge for numbers that many users block but does not label 1600-series calls as spam.

"We are the good actors who are helping hundreds of millions of Indians every day, including the vulnerable elderly, to have a trusted communication experience. Instead, they want to enable bad actors and give them an open playground to spam and scam us by censoring community information. We find this unacceptable. Penalise the bad actors, not the ones like Truecaller that make a significant positive impact," Jhunjhunwala said.

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