Numbers starting with 1600 or 140 etc, all have different utilization based on the directions from the side of the authorities. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked the banks to use phone numbers starting with 1600 for communications related to loan offerings. The circular also entailed instructions regarding the usage of numbers starting with 140 for communications regarding marketing and promotional purposes. These measures aim to prevent financial fraud caused by the misuse of phone numbers.

In a previous interview with NDTV the TRAI Chairperson had stated about allocating specific numbers to various entities for telemarketing and OTPs or even marketing. Referring to important and genuine E-commerce calls, which also fall under commercial calls, Mr Lahoti said that TRAI is in consultation with the stakeholders to allocate other series of numbers for making service and transactional calls. 

Read the full interview here: TRAI Plans to Disconnect Private Numbers Doing Spams 

Reserve Bank of India का banks को निर्देश

???????? 1600 वाले नंबर से ही आएगी बैंक की कॉल
???????? 140 वाले नंबर से ही आएगी प्रचार के लिए voice call और SMS

जागरूक रहें, सुरक्षित रहें pic.twitter.com/l5u8wdTj5Q

— DoT India (@DoT_India) January 19, 2025

TRAI and DoT are making constant efforts to curb spam calls effectively by utilizing blocking numbers as well as enforcing the traceability guidelines to ensure that proper checks are in place to protect the public from financial fraud and spam taking place through phone numbers. 

Visit our Telecom Category Page to Read more about the efforts undertaken by DoT and TRAI to curb this menace.