The rules for automated and AI calls in India, in plain words

A coaching institute in Kota wants an AI agent to call 5,000 old enquiries about a new batch. Its owner asks three questions. Can we call people on the Do Not Disturb list? Which number can we call from? Do we need anything in writing from the person first?

The answers sit in a handful of instruments. This post separates what the rules say from what to do about them. It is general information, not legal advice. Rules in this area change often, so confirm current text with a lawyer or your telecom provider before you launch.

What the rules say

One framework covers human and automated calls

The main instrument is TRAI's Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR). It covers unsolicited commercial communication by voice and SMS. A law-firm analysis notes that the regulation does not treat AI as a separate category: an AI call is judged by what it says and whom it calls, as a human call would be (Bar & Bench). We found no AI-specific telemarketing rule from TRAI in my search, but we could not search every notice issued.

Promotional, service and transactional are different

Senders classify messages and calls into categories. The February 2025 second amendment says that promotional content mixed into any other kind of communication makes the whole communication promotional (Mondaq). So a reminder call that ends with "and we have a new offer" is a promotional call.

DND and the preference register

Subscribers register preferences, including blocking promotional communication. The amendment text as summarised by Mondaq says promotional calls with the recipient's explicit consent are delivered irrespective of the preferences registered. Without explicit consent, you need to check the register.

DLT registration

Businesses that send commercial communication register as senders on the telecom operators' distributed-ledger platform (DLT), and register their headers and content templates. The 2025 amendment adds that operators must suspend a sender's traffic if its headers or templates are misused, and that registered senders must file annual self-certification (Mondaq). The same amendment says autodialers and robocalls must be declared to the originating access provider, with intent and purpose.

Number series

TRAI's February 2025 press release says senders may not use ordinary 10-digit numbers for telemarketing, and that commercial communication must come from designated headers or number series. It describes the 140 series as continuing for promotional calls and a newly allocated 1600 series for transactional and service calls (Saraf & Partners, summarising the release).

This is unsettled in the sources. The Department of Telecommunications announcement of May 2024 is reported as allotting 160xxxxxxx for service and transactional voice calls, with 1600 for government entities and 1601 for entities regulated by RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA, each verified by the operator (Storyboard18). Whether an ordinary business such as a clinic may use a 160 number depends on that verification, and we could not confirm this from a primary document. Ask your operator which series applies to you.

Calling hours

Vendor guidance states that promotional calls may be made only between 9 AM and 9 PM IST, while transactional and service calls have no such limit (Exotel). That is a telecom vendor's reading. We could not open the regulation's text to verify the clause, so treat it as the common industry practice and confirm it.

Complaints and penalties

The 2025 amendment gives consumers 7 days to report unsolicited communication, and, as reported, it sets graded financial disincentives for access providers (₹2 lakh, ₹5 lakh, then ₹10 lakh) and disconnection of a spammer's telecom resources: 15 days for a first violation, and for later ones disconnection across all providers for a year with blacklisting (Saraf & Partners). Those penalties fall first on operators and on senders through them. TRAI's own press release is a scanned image we could not read, so these figures come from law-firm summaries.

Consent

A law-firm summary reports that consent for a commercial transaction is valid for a limited period (7 days) and that inferred consent now lasts only as long as the contract (Mondaq). Several sources describe a digital consent platform operators must run, but we did not find a primary text. Some commercial blogs also cite a 90-day wait after an opt-out before asking again. We could not confirm that against official text.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act

The DPDP Act, 2023 covers personal data processing, including phone numbers and call recordings. Its Rules were notified on 13 November 2025. Rules 1, 2 and 17 to 21 took effect then, Rule 4 on consent managers takes effect 12 months later (13 November 2026), and most remaining rules, including notice and data-principal rights, 18 months later (13 May 2027) (JSA). In January 2026 MeitY proposed shortening part of that schedule; we found no gazetted amendment (Legal 500). Check the Gazette before you rely on a date.

Recording a call

We did not find a single, clear Indian rule on call recording that we could verify. Common practice is to tell the caller the call may be recorded, say why, and record only if the business needs it. With the DPDP notice duty arriving, that practice is the safer course.

How the rules apply to three common calls

Rules are easier to hold in your head when attached to a call. Take three from the Kota institute and a few other businesses.

• A fee reminder to an enrolled student's parent. This is a service call about an existing relationship. Keep it to the reminder. If the agent adds "and a new batch starts in January", the amendment's mixing rule makes the whole call promotional.
• A call to 5,000 old enquiries about a new batch. This is promotional. Unless each person gave explicit consent that you can show, the list needs checking against the preference register first, and the call needs a number series meant for promotional calls.
• A clinic confirming tomorrow's appointment. A service call, as long as it stays a confirmation. Offering a health-package discount at the end changes its class.

In each case the questions are the same: what is the purpose, did the person agree, and which number and template did we register for it. If you can answer all three in writing, an audit is a paperwork exercise rather than a crisis.

What to do about it

1. Sort your calls. Appointment reminders, order updates and callbacks the customer asked for are service or transactional. Anything selling is promotional.
2. Keep promotion out of service calls. Mixed content counts as promotional.
3. Get explicit consent and store it with a date, a source and the wording the person saw. Honour opt-outs on the call itself.
4. Register and use the right number. Complete DLT registration with your operator or telephony provider, and ask which series suits each call type.
5. Check promotional lists against the DND register unless you hold explicit consent.
6. Call promotional lists between 9 AM and 9 PM.
7. Plan for the DPDP notice duties now: say who you are, why you hold the number, and how to withdraw.

Honesty about the caller's identity is a separate question, covered in Should your AI agent say it is an AI?. Choosing the line itself is covered in SIP, WhatsApp or a virtual number. Cora Call checks promotional campaigns against the TRAI DND register and supports a do-not-call list and opt-outs, but that does not replace your own review.

Sources

1. PIB: TRAI Strengthens Consumer Protection with Amendments to TCCCPR, 2018, accessed October 2026 (listed in search results; page not retrievable, so figures are taken from the summaries below)
2. Saraf & Partners: Modifications to the 2018 TCCCPR, accessed October 2026
3. Mondaq: TRAI releases second amendment to the TCCCPR 2018, accessed October 2026
4. Bar & Bench: TRAI's crackdown on spam calls and AI-driven telemarketing, accessed October 2026
5. Storyboard18: DoT allots numbering series exclusively for service and transactional voice calls, accessed October 2026
6. Exotel: Calling hour restrictions, accessed October 2026
7. JSA: Prism Infotech, November 2025 (DPDP Rules), accessed October 2026
8. Legal 500: Compression of DPDP enforcement timeline proposed by MeitY, accessed October 2026