India’s Telecom Regulator Seeks Control Over Call Blocking Apps

Indian banks are struggling with calls being flagged as spam by apps like Truecaller, impacting customer communication. Trai is seeking authority to regulate these apps, sparking debate about broader app oversight.

The Problem of Spam Flags for Financial Institutions

An elderly executive at a state-owned bank stated: “Telephone calls from financial institutions are frequently flagged as spam since lenders make a huge number of customer calls each day. Trai has suggested that financial institutions make use of a special numbering series so clients can quickly determine authentic bank phone calls.”In the previous 8 months, Truecaller users have disregarded 81% of all 140-series calls and 79% of all 1600-series calls. Some of these calls are of training course legit, which Truecaller would certainly have presented with its confirmed badge and customers would have addressed these telephone calls.

According to officials, Trai has not asked for powers to regulate these apps yet to be designated an “authorised firm” by Meity based on the IT Act so that it can act upon infractions of its policies by apps. The concern stems from financial and financial-sector entities seeking Trai’s treatment to make certain that calls they make to clients do not obtain blocked by platforms like Truecaller.

Trai’s Quest for Regulatory Power

An elderly lender at an exclusive lender stated that while 1600-series telephone calls were being made use of for transactional phone calls and Texts to consumers, when a customer obstructed a 1600-series number or marked it as spam, banks might not get to the individual through that number again.

“They have actually reached out to us to seek powers to control call-management apps like Truecaller. We are seeking advice from the DoT on providing powers and we will need to see legally what to do about it,” Krishnan claimed on the sidelines of the “CII GCC Summit”.

Challenges with Special Number Series

Customer ID applications like Truecaller do not straight drop under the governing scrutiny and territory of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), the regulatory authority. As middlemans, they are regulated by laws and policies falling under the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The executive included that everyday blocking activities of the 1600 series increased 208 per cent given that October 2025 and 74 million manual obstructing actions have taken place. Truecaller customers actively block 400,000 from 140- collection and 125,000 telephone calls from the 1600- series, everyday, he added.

Legal Framework and Jurisdiction

“In the previous 8 months, Truecaller customers have overlooked 81% of all 140-series calls and 79% of all 1600-series calls. Some of these phone calls are of course legit, which Truecaller would have presented with its confirmed badge and consumers would have answered these phone calls. Rather, consumers and official organizations both lost,” he stated.

Specialists noted that making it possible for Trai to regulate customer ID apps could open up the door to controling other applications not under its jurisdiction. This may set a criterion for regulating other apps,” Mahesh Uppal, director, Com First India, a Delhi-based consulting firm being experts in telecom market.

Impact of Increased Blocking

A senior executive at a state-owned financial institution stated: “Calls from banks are typically flagged as spam since lenders make a great deal of client calls every day. Trai has actually recommended that banks use an unique numbering collection so customers can quickly identify real bank telephone calls. The proposal is to have a separate number collection for such phone calls, and it is being reviewed.”

The Ministry of Electronic Devices and Infotech (Meity) is evaluating a request from India’s telecom regulator to be marked as an authorized firm to control applications that provide caller identification and call monitoring solutions, Meity Secretary S Krishnan claimed on Thursday, including that the ministry was in discussions with the division of telecom (DoT) on the matter.

Concerns About Broader App Regulation

Truecaller Chief Executive Officer Rishit Jhunjhunwala stated in an article on X on July 8 that what Trai sought was “unacceptable”. Trai regulates licensed service providers of broadcasting, web and telecommunications services according to the Trai Act.

“Financial institutions had elevated problems that 140- and 1600-series phone calls were getting categorised as spam or obstructed, so their accessibility to consumers was being interrupted. They had additionally claimed that calls associating with financing recovery and details of incorrect password or if there’s any kind of unsanctioned transaction were additionally getting obstructed,” a senior authorities stated.

Jhunjhunwala added that Trai has mandated the system to not show any kind of community reported spam details, successfully restricting it to show 140- and 1600- numbers as spam. However, he claimed that over 51 million calls from both collection went unanswered each day.