IRDAI asks insurers to use 1600-series numbers for all customer calls; here's why

IRDAI has advised all insurers and insurance intermediaries to ensure that they adopt the 1600-series for all service and transactional voice calls before February 15, 2026. This comes following the TRAI Direction issued in December 2025.

On December 16, 2025, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued directions mandating that the entities regulated by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) adopt ‘1600’ series numbers by February 15 for making service and transactional calls to the consumers.

The Direction was issued to enhance consumer trust, curb spam and prevent fraud cases through voice calls.

IRDAI guidelines on TRAI direction

In a circular on the implementation of TRAI Direction on mandatory adoption of 1600-series, IRDAI asked insurers and intermediaries to ensure these things:

• Insurers shall adopt the 1600-series for all service and transactional voice calls by February 15, 2026.
• No service and transactional calls shall be initiated from any number other than those allocated under the 1600-series after February 15, irrespective of customer consent.
• Registered entities that fail to comply with the rules shall be subject to action as per the regulatory provisions of TRAI applicable to unregistered telemarketers, along with any additional action deemed appropriate by the Authority.
• Insurers shall furnish status reports, as specified by TRAI, on a timely basis to the Authority.

“Insurers and Insurance Intermediaries may coordinate with their respective Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for timely allocation, activation and operationalization of the 1600-series numbers,” IRDAI said.

TRAI Direction

On December 16, TRAI mandated IRDAI-regulated entities adopt ‘1600’ series numbers by February 15. Earlier, TRAI had issued similar Directions for mandatory adoption of 1600 series numbers by entities regulated by RBI, SEBI and PFRDA.

In response to TRAI’s directions, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) assigned ‘1600’ numbering series for allocation to entities in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector and government organisations to clearly distinguish their service and transactional calls from other commercial communications, the Ministry of Communications said in a release on December 17.

“After the assignment of the series and allocation of numbering resources to the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), TRAI has regularly engaged with TSPs and the BFSI sector regulators for adoption of 1600 series by BFSI sector entities,” the release said.

How will this help consumers?

This initiative by TRAI will help customers identify legitimate calls from regulated financial entities. Fraud cases in India have been on the rise in the last few years, and this initiative can help people determine fraudulent callers, as regulated entities will only be able to call from numbers starting with ‘1600’ for service and transactional reasons.

“Consequent to these efforts, about 570 entities have already adopted 1600 series numbers, subscribing to a total of over 3000 numbers. Based on TRAI’s interactions with stakeholders, it was considered that time is now ripe to mandate timebound completion of the exercise so that entities continuing to use standard 10-digit numbers for service and transactional calls, also shift to 1600 series numbers to reduce the risk of fraudulent or misleading calls being made in the guise of trusted financial institutions,” the Ministry of Communications said on December 17.

It added that the structured and time-bound adoption of the 1600-series will improve consumer safety significantly and will help curb financial fraud through voice calls.