In a snub to caller ID feature provider Truecaller, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday clarified that caller ID applications or telecom operators cannot tag calls originating from the 140 and 1600 number series as spam.
In a press note, TRAI said that under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR), any tagging, blocking or filtering of calls originating from the 1600 series numbers is not permitted. The regulatory body also said that customers have the right to allow or block promotional calls originating from the 140 series numbers from entities in any or all sectors by registering their preference on the Do Not Disturb (DND) registry.
The clarification comes after TRAI directed caller ID applications not to display community-reported spam labels for calls originating from the 140 and 1600 series. However, the Sweden-based Truecaller started displaying spam labels for these calls. To address the issue, TRAI has approached the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), seeking powers to regulate caller ID applications and prevent them from displaying any information related to the 140 and 1600 number series.
According to the regulator, it has mandated the use of 1600xx series numbers for service and transactional calls by regulated entities in the BFSI sector, including those regulated by the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA, to their existing customers, as well as by government entities for government-to-citizen communication. TRAI said the objective of assigning the designated series is to make such calls trustworthy for customers and citizens.
“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,” said TRAI in the press note.
On the 140xx series, TRAI said these numbers are meant for promotional calls by entities across sectors. Entities desirous of availing a 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. It further said that any tagging or filtering of calls from 140 series numbers is not allowed, except for blocking based on the DND registry, as such tagging can mislead customers who have otherwise chosen to receive promotional calls from a particular sector.
Meanwhile, Truecaller argues that the restriction has had the opposite effect of what was intended. In a post on X, Truecaller CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala said that after the new rules came into force, spam and scam calls from the 140 and 1600 number series increased, while consumers became increasingly reluctant to answer calls from these numbers.
According to him, more than 51 million calls from the 140 and 1600 series go unanswered every day. Over the past eight months, users have ignored 81% of 140-series calls and 79% of 1600-series calls, reflecting declining trust in these dedicated number series.
