TRAI Reiterates: No App Can Block 1600 Series Calls; DND Only for 140 Series

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has reaffirmed that no application can block phone calls originating from the 1600 number series, which are reserved for communications from regulated entities and the government. The statement, issued on Friday, comes amid an ongoing dispute with caller identification app Truecaller over the labelling and filtering of calls from these designated number series.

TRAI also clarified that promotional calls from the 140 number series cannot be tagged or filtered by apps and can only be blocked through the Do Not Disturb (DND) registry managed by the regulator.

According to TRAI, the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR) prohibits any tagging, blocking, or filtering of calls from the 1600 series. These numbers are mandated for service and transaction calls by regulated entities in banking, financial services, and insurance (regulated by RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, and PFRDA) as well as for government-to-citizen communications. The regulator stated that the primary objective is to make such calls trustworthy for citizens.

For the 140 series, which is used by registered telemarketers, TRAI noted that customers have the right to allow or block promotional calls from these numbers by registering their preferences on the DND registry. This can be done through multiple means, including the TRAI DND app. The regulator emphasised that any tagging or filtering of 140 series calls is not permitted except for blocking via the DND registry, as tagging could mislead customers who have otherwise allowed such calls from a specific sector.

Truecaller, a popular caller identification app, has questioned TRAI's stance. CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala claimed that spammers are misusing the directive, with 5.25 lakh users flagging calls from these series as spam daily. He stated that the number of spam calls from the 140 and 1600 series has increased significantly, with over 5.1 crore calls from both series going unanswered each day. Specifically for the 1600 series, Truecaller reported a 208% increase in daily blocking actions since October 2025, with 7.4 crore manual blocking actions taken in the past eight months.

Truecaller CEO further said that at present, users actively block 4 lakh calls from the 140 series and 1.25 lakh calls from the 1600 series every day. In response, TRAI has sought authorisation from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to take action against apps that violate its norms aimed at combating spam and fraud calls.