The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has announced that all entities regulated by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) need to start using a special phone number series, '1600', for their service and transaction calls by February 15, 2026. This new rule aims to help consumers feel more secure, cut down on unwanted calls, and prevent phone-related scams. The dedicated series will allow consumers to reliably identify legitimate calls originating from regulated institutions.
"On December 16, 2025, TRAI issued a directive requiring IRDAI-regulated entities to transition to the '1600' series for service and transactional calls by the deadline of February 15, 2026," the regulator stated.
TRAI mandate
The deadline was established in consultation with the IRDAI. TRAI had previously issued similar mandates for entities regulated by the RBI, SEBI, and PFRDA. In response to these efforts, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has designated the '1600' series of phone numbers for the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector, as well as for government organisations.
Rational behind the decision
This decision helps people easily identify and distinguish important service calls from regular business messages, making communication clearer and more organised. TRAI has indicated that it has continually worked with telecom companies and financial regulators to help make this change happen.To date, approximately 570 entities have already adopted the series, subscribing to more than 3,000 individual numbers.
Following stakeholder consultations, TRAI determined it was time to mandate a completion date for the exercise.This change makes sure that businesses still using regular 10-digit phone numbers for transactions switch to new 1600 series numbers. This helps lower the chances of scammers pretending to be trustworthy financial companies. The schedule for this change was decided after discussions among a group of regulators. TRAI emphasised that the "structured and time-bound adoption of the 1600-series will significantly improve consumer safety and help eliminate impersonation-based financial fraud".
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