In a significant step to curb rising telephonic financial frauds and phishing scams, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a directive setting firm deadlines for entities in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector to adopt the dedicated ‘1600’ numbering series for all service and transactional voice calls.
The move aims to clearly distinguish legitimate calls from banks, financial institutions, and regulators from regular commercial or fraudulent communications. Calls originating from the new 1600 series will be easily identifiable as official transactional or service-related calls, making it harder for scammers to spoof using standard 10-digit mobile numbers and impersonate trusted institutions.
The ‘1600’ series was originally allocated by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in 2022 exclusively for transactional and service voice calls from regulated financial entities. Despite voluntary adoption by some institutions, many continued using ordinary numbers, leaving consumers vulnerable to fraud. TRAI, after consultations with stakeholders including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), has now enforced a structured, time-bound migration to the 1600 series numbers by the institutions regulated by these three regulators.
Phase-Wise Migration Deadlines
TRAI has categorised entities based on size and regulatory oversight to ensure a smooth rollout.
Under SEBI regulated entities, Adoption of ‘1600’ numbering series for all Mutual Funds and Asset Management Companies (AMCs) shall be completed by 15th February, 2026. Qualified Stockbrokers (QSBs) have to complete the migration by 15th March, 2026. For the time being, other SEBI-registered intermediaries may voluntarily migrate to the 1600-series after verification of their registration details
For RBI-regulated entities, Commercial Banks (including private and public sector banks) must complete migration by January 1, 2026. Large Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), Payment Banks, and Small Finance Banks have the deadline of February 1, 2026. For the remaining NBFCs, Co-operative Banks, Regional Rural Banks, and smaller regulated entities, the final deadline of March 1, 2026.
For entities regulated by the PFRDA, the Central Recordkeeping Agencies (CRAs) and Pension Fund Managers are mandated to migrate by February 15, 2026.
Deadlines for insurance sector entities regulated by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), are under discussion and will be announced separately.
Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have been directed to allocate sufficient resources from the 1600 series and support the migration process. Entities must also ensure complete “scrubbing” (removal) of their old 10-digit ordinary phone numbers used for transactional SMS and calls as part of the transition.
“The Direction has been issued with the objective of enhancing consumer trust, curbing spam, and preventing fraudulent activities perpetrated through voice calls,” TRAI stated in its press release. Consumers will soon be able to instantly recognise genuine service calls from financial institutions by the distinctive 1600 prefix, similar to how 140-series numbers are used for promotional calls.
TRAI stated that after the launch of the series, about 485 entities have already adopted 1600 series, subscribing to a total of over 2800 numbers. Till now it was a voluntary process, but now TRAI has decided to make it mandatory and prohibit the use of regular numbers.
