TRAI rules for AI calls: the short answer
The 2026 amendment doesn't ban AI calls. It names them and sets conditions:
- An AI voice agent that places calls is making A2P calls.
- A2P use, and the caller IDs it will use, are declared to the telecom operator in advance. Undeclared calls count as spam.
- Promotional calls go out on 140 numbers; service and transactional calls on 1600 and 1601 numbers. Those numbers can't be marked as spam across the board.
- Operators now use AI to flag likely spam callers, and it takes fewer complaints before they act.
- DND preferences and consent rules still apply.
- The release doesn't require a spoken AI disclosure. Kallix agents give one anyway, as our policy.
What the TCCCPR amendment 2026 changes
TRAI published a draft for consultation on 13 March 2026, held an open house on 3 June 2026 and introduced the amendment on 18 September 2026 (PIB release ID 2311989). Here is what it does, point by point.
What TRAI means by an A2P call
A2P is short for application-to-person. The amendment defines an A2P call as a voice call started by an application, software or automated platform without a person dialling it. The definition names autodialling, robo-calls, and pre-recorded or artificial voices. An AI voice agent working through a contact list fits it, so everything below applies to AI calls.
Declare before you dial
Before the first call, any entity using A2P calls must tell its telecom operator, and list the caller IDs (CLIs) it will call from. A call made without that declaration is treated as unsolicited commercial communication (UCC), the regulations' term for spam. That brings in the flagging and complaint rules further down this page.
A per-minute charge between operators
For A2P calls, a termination charge now applies between operators, capped at ₹0.05 a minute. Calls from the series designated for regulated commercial calls are exempt. Ask your telephony provider whether this changes what you pay.
No spam tags on 140, 1600 and 1601 numbers
Numbers in the 140xx series carry regulated promotional calls. Numbers in the 1600xx and 1601xx series carry service and transactional calls. The amendment says these numbers must not be flagged as spam to the people receiving them. Caller-ID and spam apps can't block or spam-tag them wholesale, though anyone can still block a number on their own phone.
Operators flag likely spam with AI
A new Regulation 21A has operators use AI and machine learning to identify callers who are likely sending spam, and share those flags with each other. When five or more of one sender's caller IDs are flagged within 10 days, the operator investigates and takes graded action. That can mean a fresh KYC check, a bar on outgoing calls, or disconnection.
A lower complaint threshold
Action against a sender now starts at three unique complaints within 10 days, where the operator's AI system has also flagged that sender. Before the amendment the threshold was five complaints. People complain through the TRAI DND app, their operator's app, or 1909.
Consumers can appeal
If a consumer disagrees with the decision on their complaint, they can appeal within 15 days.
Seven days after an enquiry
When a customer enquires about a product or service, the business may send them commercial communications for seven days. The enquiry has to be in writing or in digital form, and the business has to keep it in a form that can be verified.
Older consent has to be on the DLT platform
Older consent still counts only if it was taken in a verifiable way and is registered on the operators' digital consent platform, known as the DLT platform. Consent that sits only in your own CRM doesn't meet that test.
When the changes take effect
The PIB release doesn't give start dates for these provisions. We'll add them here once we've checked the text published in the Gazette of India. Dates quoted elsewhere online aren't confirmed by the release, so it's safer to plan your declaration and number changes now than to wait.
140 series and 1600 series numbers: rules already in force
The 2026 amendment builds on earlier TRAI rules, and those still apply.
| Call type | Number series |
|---|---|
| Promotional | 140xx |
| Service and transactional | 1600xx, plus 1601xx named in the 2026 release |
- February 2025 amendment. Telemarketing calls can no longer come from ordinary 10-digit numbers. Promotional calls use the 140 series, and service and transactional calls use the 1600 series. Penalties for senders were tightened at the same time.
- BFSI direction, 19 November 2025. Banks, financial services firms and insurers may use only 1600xx numbers for service and transactional calls, and only 140xx numbers for promotional ones.
- July 2026 direction. TRAI is phasing in mandatory use of the 1600 series, sector by sector. Check with your operator which date applies to you.
- The 1601 series. In its first phase, TRAI has moved service and transactional calls from utilities, courier and logistics companies onto 1601 numbers. If your sector isn't named yet, ask your operator which series to use, and keep its answer in writing.
TRAI DND rules for telemarketing
India's Do Not Disturb list is the National Customer Preference Register (NCPR). Each person chooses to block all commercial calls or only certain categories. A promotional call can reach them only if their preferences allow it or they've given registered consent. Complaints about unwanted calls go to 1909 or the TRAI DND app.
For an AI campaign, that means checking the whole list against the register before the first dial, not after the first complaint.
Does an AI call have to say it's an AI?
Not under TRAI's 2026 release. It doesn't require an AI call to tell the listener it's an AI. The duty it creates is the advance declaration to the operator. Some articles online say a spoken disclosure is mandatory; we couldn't find that in the official release, and as of 23 October 2026 we know of no Indian rule that requires it on calls.
Kallix agents disclose anyway. It's our policy that every agent says it's an AI assistant in its first line, and hands over to a person when asked. That matches RBI's FREE-AI framework, which recommends that regulated entities tell customers when they use AI, though it's a recommendation and not a rule. Our voices are human-like, so we think people should hear it from the agent before anything else.
Checklist for businesses using AI voice agents
- Make sure the A2P declaration is made. A2P use and every caller ID go to the operator before the first call. If a provider declares for you, get that in writing and find out whose name it's in.
- Dial from the right series. Use 140xx for promotional calls and 1600xx or 1601xx for service and transactional calls. No telemarketing from ordinary 10-digit numbers. Banks, financial services firms and insurers also have their own direction to follow.
- Keep promotional and service calls apart. They go out on different series, so run them as separate campaigns.
- Check the DND register before every campaign. Call promotional lists only where preferences or registered consent allow it.
- Move older consent onto the DLT platform. If it isn't verifiable and registered, don't rely on it.
- Keep enquiry records. Store written or digital enquiries in verifiable form, with the date, and follow up within seven days.
- Watch complaints and flags. Three unique complaints within 10 days can lead to action once the sender is also flagged by AI. Cap how often one person is called, make it easy to say "don't call me", and act on it straight away.
- Ask about the termination charge. Find out whether the A2P termination charge (₹0.05 a minute at most) reaches your bill.
- Set calling windows. Call only in the hours you set. If you lend, RBI's rule is that lenders and their recovery agents must not call borrowers before 8 am or after 7 pm (RBI, 12 August 2022).
- Cover the DPDP Act too. You need a lawful basis, usually consent, to call people and record their calls, and people must be able to withdraw as easily as they agreed. Most of these duties apply from 13 May 2027 under the DPDP Rules, 2025. The DPDP Act and AI calls →
- Track the start dates. Confirm effective dates from the gazette and plan your changes around them.
How Kallix fits
Kallix follows TRAI's rules for commercial calls. Here's what the platform does on every campaign:
- The right numbers, through Vobiz. Kallix provides 140-series numbers for promotional calls and helps you get 1600 and 1601-series numbers, issued in your business's name, for the service and transactional calls that sectors are directed to put on them, and regional numbers for inbound lines, all through our telephony partner, Vobiz. Inbound and numbers →
- A2P declared for you. Kallix declares automated calling to the operator for the numbers it provides through Vobiz. You don't file that declaration yourself. Your business keeps its own DLT registration as the sender, and the consent of the people it calls.
- DND checks before dialling. Every number is checked against the NCPR before a campaign dials. On promotional calls, DND-registered numbers are skipped unless the contact carries a consent record. Campaigns →
- Consent on the contact. Store each person's consent source and date, such as an enquiry form and the day it came in, when you upload a list or push contacts by API.
- Calling windows in IST. Campaigns call only in the hours you set, with retries spaced out. For collection calls, set them to RBI's 8 am to 7 pm.
- A cap on calls per person. One limit counts every call to a person across all your agents and campaigns, retries included. Agents can have tighter limits of their own.
- Opt-outs honoured everywhere. If a person tells the agent to stop calling, it agrees and records "do not call" as the outcome. That contact is then left out of every campaign.
- Spam-flagged numbers skipped. Caller-number pools skip any number flagged as spam, so campaigns stop dialling from it.
- Numbers whitelisted for you. Kallix whitelists your calling numbers with Truecaller and the telecom operators on your behalf, which helps calls show up as your business rather than an unknown number.
- AI disclosure in the first line. Every agent says it's an AI assistant as it opens the call, and transfers to your team when the caller asks for a person. Agent studio →
- Records you keep. Every call has a recording, transcript and outcome, and you can send them to your CRM through webhooks and the API. Integrations →
- Data in India. Call data is stored and processed in India, and Kallix is DPDP Act compliant. Security →
Related reading: AI calling compliance in India → · Calling customers with AI in India: consent, DND and calling hours → · Payment reminder calls → · AI voice agents for banking and lending → · Pricing →