Use 1600 Number Series To Call Customers For Financial Transactions: Sebi To REs

The Securities And Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has directed its regulated and registered entities to use the ‘1600’ phone number series for service and transactional voice calls to existing customers. This will help investors easily identify calls from Sebi-regulated firms and avoid "unscrupulous entities" using regular 10-digit numbers. The market regulators' decision comes amid increasing cases of telephonic calls and messages by fraudsters posing as Sebi regulated entities.

The new number series is part of guidelines issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and aims to reduce fraudulent activities in the securities market.

Sebi Urges Investors To Report Fraud Calls

Sebi also encouraged investors to report any unsolicited commercial calls (UCC) or suspected fraud. For spam or UCC calls, investors can file a Do Not Disturb (DND) complaint through their telecom provider’s app or website, use the TRAI DND app or call/SMS 1909. In case of receiving suspected fraud communication, investors can report to Chakshu Platform of Department of Telecommunications (https://sancharsaathi.gov.in/sfc/).

In case fraud has already happened, the regulator advised investors to report the same to Cyber Crime helpline number 1930 or their official website (www.cybercrime.gov.in).

TRAI’s Efforts To Curb Financial Frauds

According to reports, TRAI, earlier this year in February, enforced stricter rules through amendments to the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR). Under the new rules, telecom operators will face financial penalties for failing to report spam communications. The telecom regulator proposed fines up to Rs 10 lakh - Rs 2 lakh for first violation, Rs 5 lakh for second violation and Rs 10 lakh for further violations. Multiple repeated violations could lead to the suspension of telecom services.   

Earlier this year in January, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also directed bank to use only phone numbers starting with 1600 to call customers for transactional purposes.