TRAI Rolls Out 1601-Series Numbers for Utilities, Courier and Logistics Calls

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ( TRAI) has directed the use of a dedicated 1601 number series for service and transactional voice calls made by entities outside the banking, financial services and insurance ( BFSI) sector and government.

In the first phase, the 1601 series will cover eligible entities in the utilities, courier and logistics sectors, TRAI said. The regulator clarified that the dedicated numbers must not be used for promotional or marketing calls.

The move aims to expand India’s trusted numbering framework and help consumers distinguish legitimate service calls from fraudulent communications. TRAI said the 1601 series will also reduce the risk of important financial and government calls being mixed with service calls from other sectors.

Under the first phase, the utilities category will include electricity distribution companies, water utilities, city gas distributors, LPG service providers and similar entities. Courier and logistics companies covered will include courier firms, express logistics operators, parcel delivery services and freight providers handling consignments.

The 1601 numbers will be assigned directly to eligible entities, rather than intermediaries or aggregators, after verification by telecom service providers ( TSPs). Operators have been given 90 days to complete the onboarding and migration process.

TRAI said the dedicated numbering system could help combat impersonation fraud, in which scammers use ordinary 10-digit numbers while falsely claiming to represent legitimate businesses. The existing 1600 series will continue to be used for service and transactional calls by regulated BFSI entities and government bodies, while the 140 series is designated for promotional calls by registered entities.

The regulator has also cautioned against incorrectly tagging 1600-series calls as spam, as these communications may include fraud alerts, transaction confirmations and other critical customer or citizen services.

The move comes amid a recent disagreement between TRAI and caller-identification platform Truecaller over the labelling of dedicated 140 and 1600 numbers. According to a recent TRAI report, 1.15 billion calls originated from 1600-series numbers during Q1 FY2026-27.