TRAI Mandates Specific Number Series for Government and BFSI Calls

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India issued clarifications on July 10, 2026, regarding the operational mandates for the 140 and 1600 number series to prevent public misinformation. The regulator designated the 1600 series exclusively for government-to-citizen communication and service or transaction calls from BFSI sector entities regulated by RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, and PFRDA. Under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation, TRAI prohibits any third-party tagging, blocking, or filtering of calls originating from the 1600 series.

In contrast, the 140 series is reserved for promotional calls across all sectors. TRAI noted that consumers maintain the right to block these promotional calls by registering their preferences on the Do Not Disturb registry.

These clarifications follow public criticism from Truecaller CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala. Jhunjhunwala argued that requesting caller ID apps to withhold information for these number series increases spam and reduces the rate at which users answer calls. He contended that preventing the display of community-reported information undermines the goal of providing a trusted communication experience for Indian citizens.