Amidst the rising spam call frauds in the country, the government has finally introduced a new number series specifically for transactional and service voice calls. As per a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) release, all transactional and service voice calls from financial entities will have 160 as a prefix.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) met representatives from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and other financial institutions and all the telecom service providers (TSPs).
How will the new number series help curb scams?
Once implemented, the new number series will help in the easy identification of the calling entity and will prevent the duping of innocent citizens from the fraudsters.
In the first phase, the 160 mobile phone series has been allocated for all entities regulated by Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
It will eventually be expanded to banks and other financial institutions including Government, Private and Global Banks, Members of Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) as well as all telecom service providers.
Other measures taken by government to curb spam calls
At the TRAI meeting, it was also discussed that the operation of 140 series, at present being used for promotional purpose, is being migrated to DLT platform and scrubbing of digital consent is also being operationalized.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the numbers will be issued in 1600ABCXXX format for government, financial institutions as well as telecom regulators. The AB will show the code of the telecom circle like 11 for Delhi, 22 for Mumbai. While the digit at C place will show the code of the telecom operator.
