TRAI and RBI Collaborate to Provide Relief from Spam Calls

• 19 Jun 2025
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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have partnered with each other for the implementation of measures aimed at reducing unsolicited spam calls as well as messages related to loans and credit cards. 

A lot of customers have expressed their feeling of dissatisfaction about receiving spam calls from businesses they made purchases from in the past. However, such businesses typically claim they have the approval of the consumers for sending these communications.

Together with the RBI and some banks, TRAI has started a pilot project centered on digital consent management in an attempt to reduce the frequency of spam calls. All telecom service providers were instructed by TRAI to participate in this pilot initiative with banks on 13 June 2025. 

The Ministry of Communications stated in a June 16 announcement that banking industry will receive priority attention because of the delicate nature of financial transactions and the potential for fraud through spam calls. 

"Given the sensitivity of banking transactions and cases of financial fraud through spam calls, the banking sector has been prioritised for the first phase of implementation. This pilot, running under a regulatory sandbox framework, will validate the operational, technical, and regulatory aspects of the enhanced consent registration function (CRF) and lay the foundation for sector-wise scaling of the digital consent ecosystem," the ministry said.

Customer Consent and TRAI’s New Rules

Under the latest regulations, businesses must now get customers’ consent digitally and store it securely through systems managed by telecom service providers. These systems will help verify whether a customer has given permission before any promotional message or call is made. 

TRAI emphasized that for this system to work smoothly, companies that send commercial messages must first be officially registered.

Steps Taken by TRAI to Curb Spam

To fight spam and fraud, TRAI has already taken several steps. Consumers can now report spam from unregistered telemarketers, even if they haven’t signed up for Do Not Disturb (DND). 

The regulator has also shut down phone lines that were being used for spamming. Still, confirming whether a customer genuinely gave consent, especially in offline situations, remains a challenge.

RBI’s Move to Prevent Fraud

Back in January, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) instructed banks to use phone numbers starting with ‘1600xx’ only for transaction-related calls. This move is aimed at reducing financial fraud. For promotional messages and calls, banks and other regulated entities are now required to use numbers that start with ‘140xx’.

SBI’s Public Advisory for Safer Communication

To further protect customers, the State Bank of India (SBI) issued a public notice in June. It reassured customers that calls from numbers starting with +91-1600 are safe and strictly used for transactional and service related purposes. This step is part of the bank’s broader effort to make digital banking more secure.

Source: Economic Times