Centre clarifies on misleading reports on 1600 and 140 series phone numbers
New Delhi, July 10
The government on Friday issued clarifications on certain media reports regarding functioning of designated 1600 series and 140 series, which could potentially lead to misinformation or misinterpretation of operation of these designated series.
According to the TRAI, the 1600 series numbers are mandated for service and transaction calls by regulated entities of BFSI sector.
These calls are for entities regulated by RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA to their existing customers and by government entities for government to citizen communication.
"A key objective of assigning designated series for these important communications is to make such calls trustworthy for the customers/ citizen. 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," the TRAI said in a statement.
Moreover, the use of 140xx series numbers has been mandated for making promotional calls by entities of any sector.
"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 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," informed the telecom regulator.
It further stated that 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 statement said that the customer can register his/her DND preference through multiple means including through TRAI DND App.
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, it added.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Bhai mujhe toh 140 series numbers se calls aate hain jo "DND pe bhi allowed nahi the" - tab bhi blocker dikha deta hai. TRAI should enforce proper implementation. And what about those spam calls from other numbers? 🤔
This is actually a good step towards digital hygiene. The 1600 series for genuine financial communications makes sense - banks should use these instead of random numbers. Hope all regulated entities comply soon. No more "aapka KYC block ho gaya" scams now! 😅
As someone working in tech support, I've seen how spam calls exploit trust. This is a welcome regulation - making it clear which numbers are for service and which for promotions helps both businesses and consumers. The DND app should get more awareness though.
But what about the enforcement? I've reported multiple spam calls from 140 series but nothing happens. Government needs to make sure telecom providers actually block these properly. Regulation is good but implementation matters more. 🙏
Interesting! I was unaware of this differentiation. Now I know - 1600 = bank/citizen services, 140 = promotions. Will check my DND settings. Good initiative from TRAI but public awareness is key to making this work.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.