If you have been blocking calls from 140 or 1600 series numbers assuming they are spam, you may want to think twice. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has clarified that these numbers serve specific purposes and should not be arbitrarily tagged or blocked as spam.
According to TRAI, 1600-series numbers are used for important service and transactional communications from banks, insurance companies, regulatory bodies such as the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA, as well as government departments. These calls may include OTP verification, banking alerts, KYC updates and other essential government-related information. Blocking or labelling such numbers as spam is against the prescribed framework.
140 Designed For Promotional Calls
Meanwhile, 140-series numbers are designated for promotional and marketing calls. If a customer has enabled promotional communication from a particular sector under the Do Not Disturb (DND) service, they may receive calls from 140-series numbers related to that category. TRAI said these numbers should also not be unnecessarily tagged or filtered as spam.
The regulator said the clarification was issued to address growing confusion surrounding the 140 and 1600 series. It urged consumers to avoid blocking these numbers indiscriminately to ensure they do not miss important service or transactional calls.
Truecaller Criticises TRAI's Clarification
Call management app Truecaller has criticised TRAI's clarification, arguing that the regulator's directive is being exploited by spammers. The company claims that around 5.25 lakh users flag calls from the 140 and 1600 series as spam every day, indicating widespread misuse of these number ranges.
TRAI recently reiterated through a press release that 140 and 1600 series numbers cannot be arbitrarily tagged as spam, as they are designated for promotional and transactional communications, respectively, PTI reported.
Responding to the clarification, Truecaller CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala said the directive has inadvertently led to a rise in spam originating from these series.
"TRAI has issued a press release reiterating that 1600 and 140 series calls cannot be marked as spam by anyone. This is exactly what is leading to the surge in spam from those series. The data proves without a doubt that spammers are abusing this directive. Why not let us mark numbers from these series as spam if 5.25 lakh people are telling us that it is spam every single day?" Jhunjhunwala said.
The telecom regulator has also sought authorisation from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to take action against apps that violate its norms aimed at strengthening the fight against spam and fraudulent calls.