DoT introduces 160 series for service and transactional voice calls

DoT introduces 160 series for service and transactional voice calls

Dil Bar Irshad | May 30, 2024 | 11:10 PM IST | Technology | Follow on Google News

DoT introduces 160 series for service and transactional voice calls

DoT introduces 160 series for service and transactional voice calls

Key Highlights:

1. New 160xxxxxxx series for service and transactional calls.
2. Clear differentiation from promotional 140xxxxxxx calls.
3. Increased consumer confidence and scam prevention.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has launched a new numbering series, 160xxxxxxx, exclusively for service and transactional calls. This initiative aims to help citizens easily identify legitimate calls, as stated by the Ministry of Defence on Thursday.

Previously, the 140xxxxxxx series was allocated to telemarketers for promotional, service, and transactional voice calls. The introduction of the 160xxxxxxx series will now be dedicated to service and transactional calls by ‘principal entities.’ This distinction will aid citizens in managing their communication more effectively.

For example, service and transactional calls from financial entities such as the RBI, SEBI, PFRDA, and IRDA will now start with 1601. The extensive use of the 140xxxxxxx series for promotional calls has led to consumers often ignoring these calls, resulting in many important service/transactional calls being missed. Consequently, genuine entities had to use regular 10-digit numbers, which fraudsters exploited to deceive consumers.

The new 160xxxxxxx series is designed to boost consumer confidence by helping them distinguish between spam calls from unknown 10-digit numbers and genuine service and transactional calls. Telecom Service Providers (TSP) will verify every entity before assigning a number from the 160 series, ensuring these numbers are used strictly for service/transactional calls as per the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR), 2018.

Consumers are encouraged to report suspected fraud communications to the Chakshu facility at Sanchar Saathi (www.sancharsaathi.gov.in). Additionally, activating the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) Do Not Disturb (DND) feature can further protect against unwanted promotional calls.

Service calls are made with the recipient’s consent to facilitate or confirm a commercial transaction or provide important product information. Transactional calls are time-critical and non-promotional, aimed at alerting customers or account holders. Promotional calls, however, are commercial communications made without the recipient’s explicit consent.

(Inputs from ANI)

Dil Bar Irshad

Dil Bar Irshad is a seasoned journalist, hails from Jammu Kashmir's Doda, covers political, social, business stories, index stories.