New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed all insurance companies regulated by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to move their service and transactional voice calls to the 1600 series numbering system by February 15, 2026.
The move is part of TRAI’s broader effort to curb spam calls and reduce fraud linked to voice-based communications. Under the new direction, insurance firms will be allowed to use only the 1600 series numbers for calls related to policy servicing, premium reminders, claim-related communication, and other transactional interactions with customers.
TRAI said the deadline was finalised after consultations with IRDAI, signalling coordination between telecom and insurance regulators to address rising consumer complaints around misleading and fraudulent calls. The regulator believes that a uniform numbering system will help consumers clearly identify genuine calls from regulated insurance entities and distinguish them from telemarketing or scam calls.
This directive follows similar instructions issued earlier to entities regulated by the Reserve Bank of India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. Together, these measures bring most of the regulated financial sector under a common caller identification framework.
To support the rollout, the Department of Telecommunications has formally earmarked the 1600 numbering series for use by Banking, Financial Services and Insurance companies, as well as government organisations. Telecom service providers have been instructed to allocate these numbers to eligible entities and ensure proper routing and identification.
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