Each bank may soon get single national calling number

New Delhi: India could soon allow each bank to have its own single national calling number with incoming call facility to make it easier for customers to identify calls and messages from their banks and help prevent frauds, industry executives said.

Banks have made a case for individual calling numbers, suffixed to the “1600xx” series, before the government and are hopeful of it being implemented soon.

“A national number for each bank, and also allowing inbound calls to such numbers, would further enhance customer security and experience,” one of the executives said.

“We have discussed this with both the government and the Reserve Bank of India,” the person said, adding that the industry is expecting clarity on the matter soon.

At present, banks use multiple numbers in the 1600xx series to reach out to customers. And these don’t have incoming facility.The RBI, in a January circular, had directed banks to use only the ‘1600xx’ phone numbering series to call customers for transactional purposes and the ‘140xx’ series for promotional purposes.”We have also made a case for greater clarity on the usage of the 1600xx series, which includes possibilities to allow incoming calls on those numbers and exemptions for those clients who have given their consent to be contacted by the banks,” a bank executive said.

Banks also plan to formally seek an exemption for debt servicing calls from the mandatory 1600xx series number. “In many cases, banks outsource their recovery activities. Now, in such cases, will the third-party recovery agents also need to use the 1600xx series? This would also require clarity from both RBI and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai),” the second executive said.