Phone calls from 1600 number series cannot be blocked, DND app can block calls from 140 series: TRAI
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has clarified that calls from the 1600 series cannot be blocked by third-party apps, as they are reserved for government and regulated financial communications. Promotional calls from the 140 series remain subject to DND registry preferences.
Why it matters
This ruling clarifies the boundaries between consumer privacy tools and government-mandated communication channels, impacting how caller ID apps like Truecaller operate.
No app can block phone calls originating from 1600 number series that are meant for communications by regulated entities and the government to citizens, TRAI said on Friday (July 10, 2026), asserting its stance amid an ongoing tussle with caller identification app Truecaller over the labelling and identification of calls from the dedicated number series.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has also clarified that promotional calls originating from 140 number series cannot be tagged or filtered by an app and can only be blocked by DND registry which is managed by the regulator.
"Under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR), any tagging, blocking or filtering of the calls originating from 1600 series numbers is not permitted," TRAI said.
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