New Delhi [India], July 10 (ANI): The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released clarifications regarding the functioning of the designated 1600 series and 140 series numbers. The regulator issued a statement following certain media reports that contained comments and views on the operation of these series, which created a risk of public misinformation or misinterpretation.

To address the situation, the Ministry of Communications outlined the distinct operational mandates for both telecommunication series to establish the correct regulatory position.

'TRAI has mandated the use of 1600xx series numbers for service and transaction calls by regulated entities of BFSI sector i.e. entities regulated by RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA to their existing customers and by government entities for government to citizen communication,' the regulator stated.

The official framework explicitly protected these specific institutional communication channels from external interference or modifications by third-party applications.

'A key objective of assigning designated series for these important communications is to make such calls trustworthy for the customers/ citizen,' the regulator noted. 'Under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR), any tagging, blocking or filtering of the calls originating from 1600 series numbers is not permitted.'

For commercial outreach, the authority maintained a separate, heavily regulated numbering system that gave consumers direct control over their incoming traffic.

'TRAI has mandated use of 140xx series numbers for making promotional calls by entities of any sector,' the directive stated. 'Entities desirous of availing 140 series number for making promotional calls must register with Telecom Service Providers under the TCCCPR framework and comply with the provisions of the regulation.'

The guidelines gave citizens the administrative power to block these marketing entities entirely through the national preference registry.

'The customers have the right to allow or block promotional call originating from 140 series numbers from entities of any or all sectors by registering their preference on the Do Not Disturb (DND) registry,' the regulatory body clarified. 'A customer who has blocked any or all sectors from receiving promotional calls on the DND registry will not receive any calls from 140 series originating from entities of the blocked sectors.'

The authority also specified that users can update these settings through official digital tools provided by the government.

'The customer can register his/her DND preference through multiple means, including through the TRAI DND App,' the statement said. 'Any tagging or filtering of calls from 140 series numbers is not allowed except for blocking on the DND registry, as any tagging can mislead a customer who has otherwise allowed receipt of such calls from a sector on the DND registry.'

The regulatory clarification came one day after Truecaller Chief Executive Officer Rishit Jhunjhunwala publicly criticised the stance of the regulator. Jhunjhunwala argued that restrictions preventing caller identification applications from displaying community-reported information for these specific number series resulted in a surge in spam calls and reduced overall answer rates.

'Yesterday we read the news that TRAI is asking MEITY for the authority to regulate caller ID apps to not show any information at all on 140/1600 numbers. This makes absolutely no sense. 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,' Jhunjhunwala said on X. (ANI)