Trai directs financial entities to use '1600' number series from 2026

Trai has ordered BFSI firms to move service and transaction calls to the 1600 series from 2026 to reduce spam, financial fraud, and rising digital-arrest scams

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Wednesday issued directions to banking, financial services, and insurance entities to adopt the new “1600” numbering series under a phased timeline, starting January 1, 2026, for service and transactional calls. Currently, the entities use 10-digit mobile numbers or standard landline connections.

 

The directions have been issued to entities regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) for identification of their service and transaction calls, with the intent of curbing spam, financial frauds, and digital arrests — an emerging cybercrime trend where fraudsters pose as government or enforcement officials to extract money from unsuspecting people, often over voice or video calls.

 

"Based on Trai's interactions with stakeholders, it was considered that time is now ripe to mandate time-bound completion of the exercise, so that entities continuing to use standard 10-digit numbers for service and transactional calls also shift to 1600 series numbers to reduce the risk of fraudulent or misleading calls being made in the guise of trusted financial institutions," the regulator said in its direction.

 

The telecom regulator has taken inputs regarding timelines from the regulators of the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector, following deliberations held during the meetings of the Joint Committee of Regulators (JCoR).

 

Experts said that by mandating the numbers to begin with 1600, the regulator was taking a big step towards making it easy for users to identify the caller, thus minimising the chances of being spammed by unsolicited commercial calls or being scammed by fraudsters, while also addressing widespread misuse of the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) choices made by users. 

 

"A majority of mobile users in India receive on an average three spam calls per day, primarily from BFSI entities. For the success of this measure, a time-bound migration procedure is essential," said Prashant Singhal, Markets Leader and Telecommunications Leader, EY India.  

 

According to EY data, in 2024 alone, there were approximately 147 million complaints against spam calls and messages, the highest ever recorded. 

 

"The 2026 deadline is a bit tight, so banks and NBFCs must rapidly streamline outbound calling, clean up vendor practices, and align with telecom providers. Customers will feel safer knowing that a 1600-series call is authentic, and anything else is not.

This will become a sector-wide trust stamp, and a decisive blow to financial call fraud," said Vinish Bawa, Partner and Leader, Telecom Sector, at PwC India. 

 

As per the directions, RBI-regulated entities have been directed to get onboarded in stages, with commercial banks being allowed to begin using the 1600 number series by January 1. Large non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), payment banks, and small finance banks (SFBs) have been allowed time till February 1; and the remaining NBFCs, co-operative banks, and regional rural banks (RRBs) have been given a March 1 deadline.

 

The directions mandate Sebi-regulated entities, including all mutual funds (MFs) and asset management companies (AMCs), to complete adoption by February 15 while qualified stockbrokers have been told to start using 1600 number series by March 15. Other intermediaries may migrate voluntarily after verification, the regulator said.

 

Under PFRDA, central recordkeeping agencies and pension fund managers must adopt the new series by February 15, the regulator said. Meanwhile, the deadline for entities in the insurance sector to adopt the 1600 number series was under discussion with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), and it will be notified later.

 

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had assigned the 1600 numbering series for allocation to entities in the BFSI sector, and government organisations to clearly distinguish their service and transactional calls from other commercial communications. About 485 entities have already adopted the 1600 series, subscribing to a total of over 2,800 numbers.