TRAI has objections to Truecaller displaying a ‘frequently blocked’ badge within the dedicated number series, with a senior regulatory official saying that such tagging is “not advisable” as it tends to misguide and confuse telecom consumers, creating unwarranted suspicion about calls from 1600 and 140 categories that otherwise fall under the regulated framework.

Instead, the regulator believes that Truecaller should display a label informing users that they can “exercise their choice” to block unwanted communication from the 140 series through TRAI’s official Do Not Disturb (DND) preference management app.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) official, the solution lies in creating further awareness and outreach around the DND, to educate people about the choices they have.

TRAI has mandated the use of 1600 series numbers for service and transaction calls by regulated banking, financial services and insurance or BFSI entities, and government-to-citizen communications, while the 140 series numbers are for promotional calls by registered entities across sectors.

The senior TRAI official also cautioned call management apps and users that under no circumstances should the 1600 number be tagged as such, given that this series is used for service and transaction calls by regulated entities of the BFSI sector (entities regulated by RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA) to their existing customers and by government entities for government-to-citizen communication.

What this implies is that calls from the 1600 series could range from fraud alerts to transaction verification, and tagging or labelling them in any form may have adverse consequences for consumers, said the TRAI official who did not wish to be named.

The latest comments from the regulator come amid a standoff between TRAI and Truecaller over the display of tags on dedicated 140 and 1600 number series.

Truecaller has alleged that spam calls have surged after TRAI mandated the use of dedicated 140 and 1600 number series while preventing caller ID apps from displaying community-reported spam information for those numbers. It had claimed that users have increasingly ignored and blocked calls from these series, eroding trust in legitimate business communications.

Truecaller says it does not mark 140 and 1600 series numbers as spam anymore, but only shows a ‘Frequently Blocked’ tag based on user blocking patterns.

According to the call management app, this ‘frequently blocked’ tag is backed by community-driven reports and algorithms, complies with regulations, and serves its core objective of protecting consumers.

The TRAI official, however, maintained that showing tags such as “spam” or “frequently blocked” within the designated number series – even where it is claimed to be community-reported – creates unwarranted suspicion for others around legitimate commercial communications and may influence consumers who have consciously chosen to receive such calls.

The TRAI official argued that flagging individual numbers does not solve the underlying problem because telemarketers typically use multiple numbers, and it is the DND framework that effectively addresses the entire category of promotional communications through consumer preferences.

The official asserted that the real problem of spam lies outside the regulated numbering system.

According to TRAI, more than 80 per cent of unsolicited marketing calls originate from ordinary mobile and landline numbers rather than the designated 140 series. Telecom service providers are already identifying and flagging about 26-27 crore such non-140 calls every day using artificial intelligence-based systems mandated by the regulator, the official said.

Call management apps are free to identify and flag such unregulated calls, the TRAI official added.

The regulator also dismissed suggestions that unscrupulous entities may be exploiting the protected series, saying the framework is tightly controlled.

The official said every principal entity and telemarketer using the 140 series must register with telecom service providers and clearly declare the purpose of the communication before being permitted to use the dedicated numbering series. Accountability is clearly defined, and the choice of the consumer is protected by the DND system.

Given this regulatory framework, the official said there was “nothing to investigate”, adding that the relative number of users, claimed to be flagging 140-series calls, may be due to a lack of awareness about the DND mechanism in those specific cases.

The official rejected Truecaller’s contention that TRAI’s framework has weakened consumer protection, arguing that consumers already have complete control over promotional calls through the regulator’s Do Not Disturb (DND) preference management system.

According to TRAI, consumers can choose not only whether to receive promotional calls but also specify sectors from which they wish to receive them, such as banking, healthcare or real estate, besides selecting preferred days and time slots.

TRAI had recently asserted that no app can block phone calls originating from 1600 number series that are meant for communications by regulated entities and the government to citizens. Further, it said any tagging or filtering of calls from 140 series numbers is not allowed except for blocking on the DND registry, as any tagging can mislead a customer who has otherwise allowed receipt of such calls from a sector on the DND registry.

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