TRAI has objections to Truecaller displaying a 'frequently blocked' badge within the dedicated number series, with a senior regulatory official saying that such tagging is "not advisable" as it tends to misguide and confuse telecom consumers, creating unwarranted suspicion about calls from 1600 and 140 categories that otherwise fall under the regulated framework.
Instead, the regulator believes that Truecaller should display a label informing users that they can "exercise their choice" to block unwanted communication from the 140 series through TRAI's official Do Not Disturb (DND) preference management app.
According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) official, the solution lies in creating further awareness and outreach around the DND, to educate people about the choices they have.
TRAI has mandated the use of 1600 series numbers for service and transaction calls by regulated banking, financial services and insurance or BFSI entities, and government-to-citizen communications, while the 140 series numbers are for promotional calls by registered entities across sectors.
The senior TRAI official also cautioned call management apps and users that under no circumstances should the 1600 number be tagged as such, given that this series is used for service and transaction calls by regulated entities of the BFSI sector (entities regulated by RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA) to their existing customers and by government entities for government-to-citizen communication.
What this implies is that calls from the 1600 series could range from fraud alerts to transaction verification, and tagging or labelling them in any form may have adverse consequences for consumers, said the TRAI official who did not wish to be named.
The latest comments from the regulator come amid a standoff between TRAI and Truecaller over the display of tags on dedicated 140 and 1600 number series.
Truecaller has alleged that spam calls have surged after TRAI mandated the use of dedicated 140 and 1600 number series while preventing caller ID apps from displaying community-reported spam information for those numbers. It had claimed that users have increasingly ignored and blocked calls from these series, eroding trust in legitimate business communications.
Truecaller says it does not mark 140 and 1600 series numbers as spam anymore, but only shows a 'Frequently Blocked' tag based on user blocking patterns.
According to the call management app, this 'frequently blocked' tag is backed by community-driven reports and algorithms, complies with regulations, and serves its core objective of protecting consumers.