The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday clarified that caller identification platforms cannot tag, filter or block calls originating from the designated 1600 and 140 number series, except when users have chosen to block promotional calls through the regulator's Do Not Disturb (DND) registry.
TRAI reiterated that the 1600xx number series has been designated exclusively for transactional calls from government entities and financial institutions regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
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According to TRAI, these calls must not be tagged, filtered or blocked by third-party applications. TRAI also reiterated that the 140xx series is reserved for promotional calls across sectors.
While consumers can choose to block such calls by registering their preferences on TRAI's DND platform, the regulator said caller identification apps should not tag or filter these calls. It added that such tagging could mislead consumers who have otherwise opted to receive promotional communications.
The clarification comes amid an ongoing disagreement between TRAI and Truecaller over the display of community-reported spam labels for calls originating from the 140 and 1600 series.
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The caller identification platform has argued that restrictions on spam labelling have weakened consumer confidence, resulting in millions of legitimate calls from these number ranges going unanswered.
Truecaller has also claimed that spam and scam activity involving these series has increased in recent months. In response to the restrictions, the company introduced a "Frequently Blocked" badge in place of spam warnings for affected calls.
It has also opposed reported efforts by the regulator to bring caller identification applications under a formal regulatory framework, maintaining that community-driven caller information remains an important tool in tackling fraud and unwanted calls.
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