New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has mandated that entities regulated by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) should adopt ‘1600’ series numbers by February 15, 2026, the government said on Wednesday.
TRAI’s direction requires IRDAI regulated firms to use 1600 series numbers for service and transactional calls to enhance consumer trust, curb spam and prevent voice call fraud, an official statement said.
The ‘1600’ series helps customers clearly distinguish the official service and transactional calls from other commercial communications.
Entities continuing to use standard 10-digit numbers for service and transactional calls should shift to 1600 series numbers to reduce the risk of fraudulent or misleading calls being made in the guise of trusted financial institutions, it said.
TRAI said that about 570 entities related to Telecom Service Providers and BFSI have already adopted 1600 series numbers, subscribing to more than 3,000 numbers.
The Ministry of Communications said in the statement that the deadline was set in consultation with IRDAI and follows earlier mandatory adoptions of the ‘1600’ series for entities regulated by the Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.
The ‘1600’ series is a phone numbering range exclusively designated for all voice calls originating from regulated entities in the banking, financial services, insurance (BFSI), and securities sectors.
The government had earlier noted the misuse of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and Primary Rate Interface (PRI) telecom lines for bulk spam. Options under discussion include issuing these lines from a designated number range and imposing additional safeguards to ensure responsible use.
TRAI had earlier informed that a major pilot project is underway to give consumers more control over commercial communications by replacing unverifiable, offline consents with a secure digital consent framework. This will enable consumers to digitally register, review, and revoke consents through a simple, unified and tamper-proof interface
(IANS)
