TRAI Seeks IT Act Powers to Act Against Truecaller, Other Apps Over Spam Tagging of Commercial Calls

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has sought powers under the Information Technology (IT) Act to act against call management applications that tag or block calls from designated commercial communication numbers as spam, as per The Economic Times news reports.  

The proposal covers platforms such as Truecaller, Hiya, and Whoscall. At present, these applications operate as intermediaries under the IT Act and are outside TRAI's direct regulatory jurisdiction. 

Request Aims to Address Rule Violations 

As per the report, TRAI is not seeking to regulate call management apps but wants the authority to take action where telecom regulations are not followed.  

The regulator has requested to be notified as an "authorised agency" under the IT Act. This would allow it to issue formal notices to platforms and seek compliance where violations are identified.  

According to officials, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has accepted the proposal, and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is expected to take the matter forward. 

Focus on the 1400 and 1600 Number Series 

The issue relates to the 1400 and 1600 numbering series allotted for commercial communications. The 1400 series is reserved for promotional calls, while the 1600 series is used for service and transactional communications, including banking alerts, payment confirmations and account-related messages.  

These number ranges were introduced to help consumers identify registered commercial calls and distinguish them from spam. 

Concerns Over Spam Tagging 

TRAI's amendments to the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, issued in 2025, state that third-party call management applications should not block calls from these designated number series.  

The regulator has raised concerns that crowd-sourced spam reporting may result in legitimate numbers being incorrectly tagged because several businesses can use the same 1400-series allocation.  

Officials said such tagging could affect business communication and government outreach. They also warned that businesses may shift back to ordinary 10-digit numbers, making it harder for consumers to identify registered commercial communications. 

Call Management Platforms Response 

As per the report, Truecaller said it complies with TRAI's directions and does not tag or automatically block numbers from the designated 1400 and 1600 series as spam, even if those numbers receive a high volume of user complaints. 

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Conclusion 

TRAI's proposal seeks to address concerns around the tagging of designated commercial communication numbers. The process now moves to the Department of Telecommunications following the regulator's request under the IT Act. 

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