TRAI vs Truecaller: Inside India’s spam-call showdown between telecom regulator and caller-id giant

The disagreement is about special phone numbers that TRAI introduced to help people identify genuine business calls. But instead of making things easier, the system has created confusion. 

Truecaller says millions of people are now ignoring even real bank and company calls, while TRAI believes apps like Truecaller are making the problem worse by discouraging users from answering those calls.

TRAI and Truecaller face off over spam calls in India

The issue became public after a report surfaced that TRAI had asked the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for powers to take action against apps like Truecaller, Hiya and Whoscall. Soon after, Truecaller CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala responded with a long post on X on July 8, sharing company data and openly challenging the regulator’s approach.

Why TRAI Introduced the 140 and 1600 Number Series

The dispute goes back to changes TRAI made to its Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR). Under these rules, telemarketing companies must use phone numbers beginning with 140, while banks and financial institutions must use 1600 numbers for service-related and transaction-related calls.

The idea was to draw a clear line. If people saw these numbers, they would know the call was coming from a registered business instead of a scammer.

India has been dealing with a huge spam-call problem. According to the Communications Ministry, authorities disconnected more than 2.1 million fraudulent mobile numbers and took action against over 100,000 entities over the past year.

To make the system work efficiently, TRAI also instructed caller ID apps not to label or block 140 and 1600 numbers as spam, even if users reported them.

Truecaller says the plan has backfired

Truecaller believes the rule has created more problems than providing a solution. Instead of trusting these special numbers, users have started avoiding them altogether because they no longer receive spam warnings from the app.

Beginning his July 8 post on X, CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala wrote, “Wondering why spam calls have increased SIGNIFICANTLY in India recently? Well, it’s actually going to get worse; here’s why.”

He then shared data collected by the company. According to Truecaller, more than 51 million calls from the 140 and 1600 number series go unanswered every single day. Over the last eight months, users ignored 81% of calls from the 140 series and 79% of calls from the 1600 series.

During the same period, users manually blocked 74 million calls from these two number series. Daily blocking of 1600-series numbers has jumped 208% since October 2025.

Truecaller also said users currently block around 400,000 calls every day from 140 numbers and another 125,000 calls every day from 1600 numbers.

Jhunjhunwala said the company followed TRAI’s order even though it had concerns. He wrote that Truecaller complied with the regulator’s direction to whitelist these numbers “even though [it] had concerns about whether the regulator could issue such instructions to apps.”

The ‘Frequently Blocked’ workaround

Since Truecaller cannot officially mark these numbers as spam anymore, it introduced another feature called “Frequently Blocked.” Instead of calling a number spam, the app simply tells users that many people have blocked it.

Truecaller says this follows TRAI’s rules because it does not label the number as spam but only shares information based on user behaviour. The company also plans to submit its call data and user statistics directly to MeitY to show how much trust users have lost in the current system.

In comments submitted to TRAI on April 17, 2026, Truecaller said it supported efforts to reduce unwanted commercial calls but opposed a proposed Regulation 34A, arguing that it would weaken consumer protection instead of improving it.

What TRAI wants more power?

TRAI believes caller ID apps are hurting a system created to protect genuine businesses. Right now, apps such as Truecaller are treated as intermediaries under the Information Technology Act, not telecom companies. Because of that, TRAI cannot directly take action against them.

To solve this, the regulator has asked MeitY to declare it an “authorised agency” under the IT Act. That would allow TRAI to act against apps if they violate telecom-related rules.

TRAI is worried that if apps continue discouraging calls from the official 140 and 1600 series, companies may stop using those numbers and return to regular 10-digit mobile numbers. If that happens, people will once again struggle to tell real business calls from scam calls.

The regulator has also been urging telecom companies not to mark official 140 and 1600 numbers as spam.

Banks say important calls are being missed

Much of the pressure on TRAI has reportedly come from banks. A senior banking official told Business Standard, “Banks had raised concerns that 140- and 1600-series calls were getting categorised as spam or blocked, so their access to consumers was being disrupted.”

The official said important calls about loan recovery, incorrect passwords and unauthorised transactions were also getting blocked or ignored.

Government still studying the matter

MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan confirmed that the ministry is examining TRAI’s request. Speaking on the sidelines of the CII GCC Summit, he said, “We are consulting the DoT on granting powers, and we will have to see legally what to do about it.”

Reports suggest MeitY agrees with TRAI’s request in principle, but discussions with the Department of Telecommunications are still going on before any final decision is taken.

Another idea is also being discussed. Instead of using the broader 1600 series, banks may receive a separate numbering series that would make genuine banking calls even easier to identify.

Internet industry warns against expanding TRAI’s powers

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), which represents caller ID and call management platforms, believes TRAI is trying to go beyond its legal authority.

The industry body argues that these apps are not telecom operators and therefore should not come under telecom regulation. It also says forcing companies to share their data with telecom operators would unfairly affect their business and that changes to intermediary protections can only be made under the IT Act.

Some telecom policy experts have also expressed concern.

Where the dispute stands now

The matter is still unresolved. TRAI’s request to become an authorised agency under the IT Act is being reviewed by MeitY, which is consulting the Department of Telecommunications before making a decision.

Truecaller continues using its “Frequently Blocked” feature and says it will present its data to the government to support its position. TRAI has not publicly responded to Truecaller’s figures in detail and has only maintained that its aim is limited to enforcing telecom rules, not regulating apps.

Banks want stronger protection for their official calls, while the internet industry is warning against giving TRAI wider powers.

For millions of Indians, however, even though these numbers were introduced to make business calls easier to recognise, Truecaller’s own data suggests that nearly four out of every five calls from the official 140 and 1600 series now go unanswered.