TRAI mandates 1600-series adoption by IRDAI-regulated entities for service calls

Key facts

• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has mandated that entities regulated by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) must adopt the '1600' series numbers by February 15, 2026 for making service and transactional calls to consumers.
• The direction was issued on December 16, 2025, in consultation with IRDAI, to enhance consumer trust, curb spam, and prevent fraudulent activities through voice calls.
• The '1600' numbering series has been assigned by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for allocation to entities in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector and government organisations to distinguish their service and transactional calls from other commercial communications.
• About 570 entities have already adopted 1600 series numbers, subscribing to over 3,000 numbers, as part of TRAI’s ongoing engagement with telecom service providers and BFSI regulators.