Mandatory Adoption of 1600-Series Numbers by IRDAI Regulated Entities

भारतीय दूरसंचार विनियामक प्राधिकरण TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA भारत सरकार / Government of India

Dated: 16th December, 2025

DIRECTION

Subject: Direction under section 13, read with sub-clauses (i) and (v) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11, of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997) regarding mandatory adoption of 1600-series numbers by IRDAI regulated entities.

F. No. G-6/(8)/2025-QoS-Part(1) (E-18071) - Whereas the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (hereinafter referred to as the "Authority"), established under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997) (hereinafter referred to as the "TRAI Act"), has been entrusted with the discharge of certain functions, inter alia, to regulate the telecommunication services; ensure technical compatibility and effective interconnection between different service providers; lay down standards of quality of service to be provided by service providers and conduct the periodical survey of such services provided by the service providers so as to protect interest of the consumers of telecommunication service;

2. And whereas the Authority, in exercise of the powers conferred upon it under section 36, read with sub-clause (v) of clause (b) and clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 11, of the TRAI Act, made the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (6 of 2018) dated the 19th July 2018 (hereinafter referred to as the "regulations"), to curb unsolicited commercial communications;

3. And whereas regulation 3 of the regulations reads as under: -

"3. Commercial communications through network of Access Providers.— (1) Every Access Provider shall ensure that any commercial communication using its network takes place only using registered headers or the number resources allotted to the Senders from special series assigned for the purpose of commercial communication.

(2) No Sender, who is not registered with any Access Provider for the purpose of sending commercial communications under these regulations, shall make any commercial communication, and in case, any such Sender sends commercial communication, all the telecom resources of such Sender may be put under suspension or may also be disconnected as provided under these regulations";

4. And whereas the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), vide its letter dated the 23rd December 2024, conveyed its decision to allocate a separate numbering series for Service and Transactional Voice Calls, i.e., "1600", exclusively for Government (Central/State) entities and BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) sector entities;

5. And whereas the Authority, vide its letter dated the 31st December 2024, directed all Access Providers to initiate allocation of the said numbering series to eligible entities;

6. And whereas, despite multiple consumer awareness campaigns conducted by the Authority and Access Providers, the adoption of the 1600-series by BFSI entities has remained low, with most entities continuing to use ten-digit mobile numbers for service and transactional calls and the Authority is of the view that the adoption of the 1600-series by BFSI entities will: -

(a) be a major tool to curb promotional calls made in the guise of service and transactional calls, which often result in spam and potential scams; and;

(b) provide BFSI entities a distinct identity segregating them from other callers and will also enable consumers to make informed decisions regarding call acceptance;

7. And whereas, during the interaction with the sector regulators, namely the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the said regulators contributed their inputs on migration plan for adoption of the 1600-series based commercial communications;

8. And whereas, based on the timelines submitted by RBI, SEBI and PFRDA, in response to the Authority's letter dated 3rd September 2025, a direction regarding the implementation of mandatory adoption of 1600-series numbers by entities regulated by these regulators was issued on the 19th November, 2025; and, now IRDAI has, vide its letter dated the 8th December 2025, furnished timelines for the entities regulated by it;

9. Now, therefore, the Authority, in exercise of the powers conferred upon it under section 13, read with sub-clauses (i) and (v) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11, of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997), and the provisions of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (6 of 2018), hereby directs all Access Providers to bring the contents of this Direction to the notice of all stakeholders, including Principal Entities under the jurisdiction of IRDAI, and ensure that-

(i) adoption of the 1600-numbering series by all entities regulated by IRDAI is completed by 15th February 2026;

(ii) in the event of any complaint of unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) against any entities regulated by IRDAI, which fail to subscribe to the 1600-series by the 15th February 2026, the action is taken as per regulatory provisions applicable to unregistered telemarketers;

(iii) entities regulated by IRDAI are not permitted to initiate any service or transactional voice calls, even with the explicit or inferred consent of customers, from numbers other than those allocated under the 1600-series, after the 15th February 2026, and

(iv) the Authority is furnished with, within fifteen (15) days from the date of issue of this Direction, the status report indicating the actions taken in compliance with this Direction and periodic submission of information about the operationalisations of the 1600-series by Principal Entities, every fifteen days thereafter.

(Deepak Sharma) Advisor (QoS-II)

To: All Access Providers