Online fraud are rising. The government has a new plan to fight this problem. They introduced a special number series: 160. This number will help people identify safe calls from banks and other financial services.
As per a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) release, all calls from banks and financial services will start with 160. This will make it easy to know if a call is real. The 160 number series will first be used by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
Later, this will include more banks, financial institutions, Members of Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) and telecom providers.
The 140 number series used for promotional calls will move to a new digital platform. This will help control spam. The new numbers will look like 1600ABCXXX. Here, ‘AB’ will show the area code e.g. 11 for Delhi, 22 for Mumbai. and ‘C’ will show the telecom operator.
These steps will make it harder for fraudsters to trick people. The new system aims to protect citizens from fake calls, online fraud and keep online banking safe.