Three number series, three different jobs. Here is a plain-English guide to choosing the right one for your calls in India.
Ask five Indian businesses which phone number they use for customers and you may get five different answers: a mobile number, a landline, an 1800 number, something starting with 140, or a 1600-series number. They look similar, but each one is meant for a different kind of call. Choosing the wrong one can cost you trust, money or even regulatory trouble.
1800: the toll-free number for incoming calls
An 1800 number is for customers calling you. The caller does not pay for the call; the business does. It is the number to print on your website, packaging and ads when you want to remove every barrier to getting in touch.
- Best for: customer support, sales enquiries, bookings and helplines
- Direction: incoming calls
- Who can use it: any business
1600 and 1601: the number for genuine service calls
The 1600 series was created by India’s telecom regulator, TRAI, so that people can recognise genuine service and transactional calls, such as payment alerts and account updates, and tell them apart from spam. It is intended for regulated banking, financial services and insurance entities and for government organisations. TRAI has also started a phased rollout of a related 1601 series for some other sectors.
- Best for: service and transactional outbound calls by eligible organisations
- Direction: outgoing calls
- Not for: promotional or sales calls
140: the series for promotional calls
Promotional voice calls follow a separate framework and use the 140 series. Keeping marketing calls on 140 and service calls on 1600 helps customers understand why you are calling and keeps your business compliant.
So which one should you use?
- If customers need to call you: get a toll-free 1800 number.
- If you are an eligible bank, NBFC, insurer or government body making service calls: use the 1600 series.
- If you make promotional calls: follow the 140-series framework.
- If you do all three, keep the flows separate so each call type uses the right number.
The right number does more than connect a call. It tells the customer who you are and why you are calling.
Not sure what applies to you? Our team can review your calling needs and set up the right numbers, routing and reports.