Financial entities to have 160 as a prefix to stay safe from online banking frauds

According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India all transactional and service voice calls from financial entities will have 160 as a prefix. In the first phase, the 160 mobile phone series has been allocated for all entities regulated by the Reserve Bank of India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. It will eventually be expanded to banks and other financial institutions including Government, Private and Global Banks, Members of Association of National Exchanges Members of India as well as all telecom service providers.

The TRAI met representatives from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and other financial institutions and all the telecom service providers (TSPs).

The Ministry of Communications also disclosed that the 140 phone series currently in use for promotional calls is being moved to a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform. This shift, combined with stricter digital consent protocols, is expected to significantly reduce spam calls generated by 10-digit numbers.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the numbers will be issued in 1600ABCXXX format for government, financial institutions as well as telecom regulators. The AB will show the code of the telecom circle like 11 for Delhi, 22 for Mumbai. While the digit at C place will show the code of the telecom operator.