The Indian telecommunications regulatory body (TRAI) has announced that any labeling, blocking, or filtering of calls originating from numbers in the 1600 series is not permitted.
Rules for Series 1600
The regulator addressed concerns regarding potential misunderstandings or misinformation arising from designated 1600 series numbers, which are intended for Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI), as well as 1400 series numbers used for promotional calls across various sectors. TRAI emphasized that labeling or filtering calls from the 1400 series is also prohibited, with the exception of blocking through the Do Not Disturb (DND) registry.
Purpose of Designated Series
TRAI mandated regulated organizations in the BFSI sector (which are overseen by RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, and PFRDA) to use 1600xx series numbers when communicating with existing customers, while government bodies must use them when contacting citizens. The primary goal of assigning these special series is to ensure trust from customers and citizens regarding such communications.
Provision on Series 1600
According to the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), any manipulation of calls coming from 1600 series numbers is forbidden.
Regulation of Series 1400
Regarding 1400xx series numbers, organizations wishing to use them for promotional calls must register with telecom service providers under the TCCCPR framework and comply with the regulations. Citizens have the right to permit or block promotional calls from 1400 series numbers from organizations of any or all sectors by registering their preferences in the DND registry.
Blocking Mechanism
If a customer has blocked receiving promotional calls from one or more sectors in the DND registry, they will not receive any calls from the 1400 series from organizations in those blocked sectors. Customers can set their DND preferences in various ways, including using the TRAI DND App. Furthermore, TRAI added that any labeling or filtering of 1400 series calls is prohibited, except for blocking in the DND registry, because any labeling could mislead a customer who otherwise has permitted such calls from a specific sector in the DND registry.