TRAI has made new rules to stop spam calls. Now 1600 series is mandatory for service and transaction calls and 140 series is mandatory for promotional calls. Customers can block 140 series calls through DND.
New Delhi: Nowadays, calls coming from unknown numbers have become a big problem for mobile users. To prevent fraud and spam calls, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has implemented some new rules. There was a lot of confusion in the media regarding 140 and 1600 series numbers, on which TRAI has now given clear information. It is very important for you to know these important changes.
The ‘1600’ series rules for service calls!
According to TRAI’s new guidelines, numbers starting with 1600xx are kept only for service and transaction related calls. This rule especially applies to companies in the banking and financial sector. That is, banks and insurance companies under RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA will use these numbers to provide necessary information and alerts to their customers. Apart from this, the government will also use this series to provide information about important schemes to the common people. The aim of the government is that people can trust such important calls. Therefore, mobile operators are not allowed to tag or block 1600 series calls.
‘140’ series necessary for promotional calls!
TRAI has clearly said that if any company wants to advertise, offer or promote its products, then it will have to use only 140xx series numbers. It is also mandatory for companies making such promotional calls to register under the Telecom Rules (TCCCPR). The special thing is that the customer has the full right to decide whether to receive calls coming from 140 series or not. If you want, you can easily block them through ‘Do Not Disturb’ (DND) service.
How to stop spam calls?
If you want to avoid the hassle of such unwanted calls, then you can easily block them by using the government’s official TRAI DND app. Here are the steps:
download app: Install the official ‘TRAI DND’ app from Google Play Store (Android) or Apple App Store (iOS).
Give permission: As soon as you open the app, it will ask for access to SMS, contacts and call logs. It is necessary to give this permission to identify spam calls.
Login Process: Enter your mobile number and verify with the incoming 6 digit OTP.
Select DND option: On the main dashboard of the app, you will get two options:
Full DND: By selecting this, all types of commercial and promotional calls and messages will be completely blocked.
Partial DND: By selecting this, you can block other ad calls while allowing calls from the sector of your choice, such as banking, education, or health.
Submit: After selecting the option of your choice and submitting it, your request will be registered in the National Consumer Preference Register (NCPR).
7 day deadline and complaint
Once your request is registered, operators like Jio, Airtel, Vi or BSNL may take up to 7 days to implement it. If even after 7 days you are receiving spam calls from 140 series against the rules, you can ‘Report’ the call by selecting it from the recent calls list in the same app. With this your complaint will be registered directly with TRAI.