Imagine getting a call from your bank or insurance company about a payment, service or transaction, only to find that you cannot call the number back. This can leave you wondering whether the call was genuine - and, if it was, how to get back in touch with the bank or insurer.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is discussing a proposal with telecom operators to enable users to call back on the 1600-number series used by banks and other financial institutions for service and transaction-related calls, two industry executives and a government official aware of the matter said on condition of anonymity.
The move aims to improve user convenience and enhance trust in calls made from the 1600-number series, allowing customers to return calls and verify or follow up on transaction-related communications from banks, the government official cited earlier said.
“In one of the meetings (with Trai), banks raised a concern that users cannot call back 1600 numbers, creating friction when they need to follow up on a call or transaction,” the official said, adding that the decision for a callback feature will be purely based on technical and commercial feasibility between banks and telecom operators.
Telecom companies, on their part, have told the regulator that allowing incoming calls on the 1600-number series could hurt their business from toll-free 1800 numbers, where the call volumes are high and the called parties bear the expenses.
“In one of the meetings (with Trai) in June, the Cellular Operators Association of India (Coai) highlighted some risks associated with directly providing the incoming facility for 1600,” The first of the two industry executives cited earlier said, adding that selling 1800 numbers generates significant revenue for telcos, and a clarity is needed on how the two number series can coexist without affecting the business.
To be sure, the 1600 series can only be used by the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector for making outbound calls to users. A user cannot call the same number back and has to dial toll-free or customer service numbers listed on the websites of banks or related entities for services.
"We have requested the telecom regulator to allow callback on the 1600 series, and we understand that telcos are examining the feasibility. The main challenge remain about people not picking up calls from this number series, impacting business connections and related costs. Customer awareness, along with a callback feature, will improve utility and meet the policy objective," said Sugandh Saxena, chief executive officer (CEO) of Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE).
According to Saxena, the fintech industry over the past six months has put enormous effort into shifting to the 1600 series to support the goal of curbing fraud over telecom resources. "We will continue to engage with Trai on industry experience, so that the ecosystem can evolve the right solutions to meet the objective of trustworthy and effective business communication with consumers," she added.
The Coai represents private telecom operators in the country. A toll-free 1800 number lets customers call a business without paying any charges, whereas the business covers all incoming call costs. According to Airtel’s website, basic plans for toll-free numbers start at ₹1,500– ₹2,500 per month, with per-minute charges of ₹1.5– ₹4 depending on volume.
“Trai also advised telcos to submit the network diagram (for 1600 series callback), along with the proposed solution and the challenges involved for detailed discussions,” the industry executive said, adding that deliberations on the issue continue. The second industry executive said Reliance Jio, too, was not in favour of allowing incoming calls on the 1600-number series.
Queries emailed to Coai, Reliance Jio and Trai on Friday remained unanswered till press time.
Earlier, banks and financial services companies used the typical 10-digit mobile numbers to communicate with their customers, making it difficult to identify calls from potential scamsters. In a bid to curb financial scams from usual 10-digit mobile numbers and enable consumer trust in genuine calls from banks and financial institutions, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), upon Trai's recommendations in 2024, issued 10-digit numbers starting with the 1600-series exclusively for service and transactional calls by banks and financial institutions.
Last year, Trai mandated companies the BFSI sector to migrate to the 1600-series for transaction and service calls by March 2026.
Banks and other eligible entities pay telecom operators for subscribing to and using 1600 numbers, including the associated voice and telecom services.
Last month, the 1600 series (for transaction calls) and 140 series, which is used for promotional and marketing calls, were involved in a controversy after Truecaller slammed the regulator’s directive that barred caller ID apps from labelling calls from these numbers as spam.
“A key objective of assigning designated series for these important communications is to make such calls trustworthy for the customers/ citizen,” Trai had said in a release on 10 July, adding that any tagging, blocking or filtering of the calls from these numbers are not allowed. However, customers can allow or block promotional calls originating from 140 series numbers by registering their preference on the Trai's Do Not Disturb (DND) registry, Trai had said.
In contrast, Truecaller CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala told Mint last month that numbers in the designated series—1600 for banks and insurers, and 140 for promotional calls—are increasingly being misused for spam calls. “If one lakh people on Truecaller are saying this is spam and yet we are not allowed to mark it as spam, then how are consumers benefiting from this?” he had said.
The Truecaller app uses community feedback to identify and flag suspected spam calls.
Recently, Trai also asked telecom operators to update the regulator on complaints pertaining to the 1600 series. In the April-June period, the total number calls originating from the 1600-series numbers stood at 1.15 billion, whereas 13.16 billion calls originated from the 140 series, according to the Trai report.