How to End Spam Calls and Texts in India (2026 Update)

The 30-second version

Registered promotions stop once you set a DND preference by calling or texting 1909 or using the TRAI DND app, and OTPs and bank alerts keep coming. Sales calls from ordinary 10-digit numbers are already illegal, so report them within 7 days even if you never joined DND. Turn on your phone’s spam filter for the rest, report scam attempts on Chakshu (Sanchar Saathi), and dial 1930 if money is gone.

Unwanted calls come in three flavours: legal promotions from registered firms, illegal pitches from unregistered telemarketers, and outright fraud. Each needs its own fix.

In this guide8 sections

First, read the number or the header
Legal promotions: register a DND preference
Illegal sales calls: file a complaint within 7 days
Network warnings and the new caller-name display
Filters built into your handset
Scam attempts: tell Chakshu
Readers also ask
Where these facts come from

First, read the number or the header

What you see	Usually means	Can DND stop it?	Best response
Call from a 140xx number	Registered business making a promotional call	Yes, for the categories you block	Set a DND preference
Call from a 1600xx number	Service or transaction call from a bank, NBFC, insurer, mutual fund, broker, pension body or government office	No, and apps may not tag it as spam	Answer if you deal with that organisation
Call from a 1601xx number	Service call from an electricity, water, gas or LPG company, or a courier or logistics firm	No	Treat it as a service call
Sales pitch from a normal 10-digit mobile	Unregistered telemarketer, banned by the rules	Not needed for a complaint	Complain within 7 days, then block
SMS header ending in -P	Promotional message	Yes	DND, or the opt-out in the message
Header ending in -S or -T	Service update, or a transaction message such as an OTP	No (Block Promo leaves them alone)	Nothing to do
Header ending in -G	Government message	No	Nothing to do
Anyone asking for an OTP, KYC update, payment or threatening arrest	Probable fraud	Not a DND issue	Hang up and report it on Chakshu

Compiled from TRAI’s TCCCPR amendments of 2025 and 2026 and TRAI press releases 11/2025, 91/2026 and 113/2026; checked 29 October 2026.

TRAI gave regulated finance firms deadlines from 1 January 2026 (commercial banks) to 15 March 2026 (qualified stockbrokers) to move service and transaction calls to 1600 numbers. So a “bank” calling from an ordinary mobile deserves suspicion, and no genuine caller needs your OTP. The 1601 series is newer: on 10 August 2026 TRAI gave operators 90 days to move utilities, courier and logistics firms onto it.

Tip: To see who owns a header such as XX-ABCDEF-S or a 1600 number, use TRAI’s Header Information Portal at smsheader.trai.gov.in. It asks for your name, an email address and a captcha.

Legal promotions: register a DND preference

DND, officially customer preference registration, tells your operator which promotional categories you refuse. It binds only senders who follow the rules, meaning 140-series calls and -P messages, and you can change it any time.

Call 1909 (toll-free) from the number you want to protect and follow the voice prompts.
Text 1909 with one of the codes in the table below.
Use the TRAI DND app (Android and iPhone): verify your number by OTP, choose full or partial blocking, check your status and file complaints.
Go through your operator: in MyJio, tap your profile, then Settings → Service settings → Do not Disturb. Airtel’s DND web page works with an OTP and offers Stop All. Vi has myvi.in/dnd and the Vi app’s Help & Support section. BSNL users can call or text 1909.

What to block	SMS to 1909	USSD listed by TRAI
Every promotional category	BLOCK PROMO	190950#
Banking, insurance, financial products and credit cards	BLOCK 1	19091#
Real estate	BLOCK 2	19092#
Education	BLOCK 3	19093#
Health	BLOCK 4	19094#
Consumer goods and automobiles	BLOCK 5	19095#
Communication, broadcasting, entertainment and IT	BLOCK 6	19096#
Tourism and leisure	BLOCK 7	19097#
Food and beverages	BLOCK 8	19098#

Codes from Schedule II of TRAI’s TCCCPR, 2018 as amended in February 2025 and September 2026; checked 29 October 2026.

You can also limit blocking by mode (voice, SMS, auto-dialler calls and robocalls), time band and type of day, public holidays included. Jio says a preference applies within 24 hours, confirmed by an SMS with a registration number.

Note: The old FULLY BLOCK option, which also stopped service messages you had explicitly agreed to, is being retired. The Third Amendment that TRAI notified on 18 September 2026 removes it, and once the amendment takes effect operators get 15 days to move those users to Block Promo, which still stops every promotion. Nothing for you to do. Operator pages still quote older keywords (START 0 for Jio and Airtel, FULLY BLOCK for Vi); if one fails, call 1909.

The big exception is consent. A business holding your explicit digital consent, confirmed by OTP, can still send promotions despite DND. Consent requests must come from a 127xxx short code, every promotional SMS must carry an opt-out, and a sender you opt out of must wait 90 days before asking again.

Tip: No DND setting blocks OTPs, transaction alerts or government messages. If codes go missing, see our guide to fixing OTP SMS that don’t arrive.

Illegal sales calls: file a complaint within 7 days

Most spam comes from unregistered telemarketers on regular 10-digit numbers, which bypass DND entirely, so complaints are what hurt them. Since TRAI’s 2025 amendment:

No DND needed to complain about an unregistered sender.
Registered senders differ: a 140 call or -P text is allowed unless you’ve blocked that category, so set your preference first.
Seven days, not three: later submissions become reports, which help find spammers but don’t trigger action against that sender. TRAI’s explainer page still shows the old 3-day limit.
Minimal details: your number, the sender’s number or header, the date and a short description make a valid complaint.

Use the TRAI DND app, your operator’s own app or site, or a call or text to 1909. DoT says Sanchar Saathi also takes complaints.
Pick the spam (UCC) complaint option. Operator apps must show it prominently, can read your call log or SMS with permission, and must accept screenshots.
Check the details, submit, and note the complaint number.

Once 5 different people complain about the same unregistered sender within 10 days, the operator must act, now within 5 days instead of 30. A first offence bars all the sender’s outgoing services for 15 days. Repeat offenders lose every connection across operators for a year and are blacklisted.

What the 2026 amendment adds

A faster trigger: 3 complaints in 10 days will do, if the operator’s AI system has also flagged that sender’s number.
A right of appeal: challenge a complaint’s outcome within 15 days of hearing it, or within the next 15 days if 15 days pass with no word, using the same channels as complaints.
Action without complaints: if five or more of a sender’s numbers are flagged within ten days, operators must investigate and may bar or disconnect them.
Fewer loopholes: enquiry-based promotions get only 7 days after a written or digital enquiry, and undeclared automated (A2P) calls count as spam.

Most of it applies 30 days after publication in the Gazette of India, some parts after 60 days, and the appeal and 3-complaint rules after 90 days. TRAI’s website doesn’t show the Gazette date, so expect a rollout through late 2026.

Network warnings and the new caller-name display

TRAI says major operators already use AI systems to detect suspected spam and alert customers with a label.

Airtel: “Suspected SPAM” on calls and SMS since 25 September 2024, free and automatic, plus warnings about malicious links in texts.
Vi: Vi Protect marks calls “Suspected SPAM” (VoLTE handsets only) and texts “Vi Suspected SPAM” (any handset) at no extra charge; the Vi app lets you report and block spam calls.
BSNL: since August 2025 it has been rolling out a network filter that holds back SMS carrying suspicious links, on by default where live.
Jio: we found no official Jio page on a call spam label, so lean on your phone’s filter.

Under the 2026 rules, 140xx, 1600xx and 1601xx numbers must not be flagged as suspected spam, so genuine commercial and government calls stay visible.

Caller names on screen from 1 November 2026

A DoT circular dated 13 October 2026 tells all mobile operators to switch on Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) by default across India from 1 November 2026, for calls on 4G and newer networks. Saved contacts still show your saved name. Otherwise a domestic call shows the name in the caller’s subscriber records and a call from abroad shows “International Call”. Callers with CLIR (number withheld) aren’t named, and 2G, 3G and landlines will be considered later.

Treat the name as a clue: it reflects the SIM’s records, not the caller’s honesty.

Filters built into your handset

Google’s Phone app (Pixel and many Android phones)

Open the Phone app and go to More options → Settings → Caller ID and spam.
Keep See caller ID & spam on; it’s the default.
Turn on Filter spam calls. You get no missed-call or voicemail alerts for them, but they stay in call history. Phones with automatic Call Screen keep spam blocking in the Call Screen options instead.

In Google Messages, tap your profile picture, then Messages settings → Protection & Safety → Spam and scam protection, and pick Standard (the default) or Enhanced protection. Flagged texts offer Report spam.

Galaxy phones from Samsung

Open the Phone app, tap the three dots and choose Settings.
Turn on Caller ID and spam protection and tap Agree. Samsung India says Hiya provides the service.
Enable Block spam and scam calls. The broader choice is Block all spam and scam calls; the narrower one, Only block high-risk scam calls, lets ordinary spam ring through. (Names are from Samsung’s Canadian page and may vary.)

iPhone on iOS 26 or iOS 27

Unknown numbers: in Settings → Apps → Phone, choose Never, Ask Reason for Calling (Call Screening) or Silence, which sends unsaved numbers to voicemail but keeps them in Recents.
Spam: this switch on the same screen silences calls your carrier marks as potential spam or fraud. It needs carrier data, and we found nothing confirming Indian operators supply it to iPhones.
Texts: in Messages, tap the filter button, then Manage Filtering, and turn on Screen Unknown Senders. Use Allow Notifications so verification codes still alert you (categories vary by country), and Text Message Filter to sort unknown senders into Transactions and Promotions.

Warning: Silencing unknown callers also catches genuine calls, such as a delivery rider, a hospital or a new customer. Use it only if the calls that matter come mostly from saved contacts, and check voicemail and the filtered lists often.

Truecaller and similar apps

These apps label callers from user reports and usually want your contacts and call logs, so read the privacy policy first. TRAI bars them from tagging, filtering or blanket-blocking 140xx, 1600xx and 1601xx calls, and under the 2026 amendment any in-app “report spam” button must pass reports to the operators’ DLT platform. Blocking numbers on your own phone remains your choice.

Shutting out one stubborn number

Phone	To block	To undo
Google Phone app	Call history → tap the call → Block / report spam	Settings → Blocked numbers → Clear → Unblock (the Unknown switch there only blocks private or unidentified callers)
Samsung Phone app	Settings → Block numbers, or Block number on the incoming-call screen	Remove it from the same list
iPhone	Recents → tap the number (Info button in Classic view) → Block Caller	Blocked Contacts, in Settings → Apps → Phone or Settings → Privacy & Security

Google, Samsung and Apple support pages, checked 29 October 2026.

A block handles one number; spammers rotate them, so complaints do more good.

Scam attempts: tell Chakshu

Chakshu, part of DoT’s Sanchar Saathi, is for calls and messages meant to cheat you: fake customer care, people posing as police, CBI, customs, RBI, TRAI or DoT, fake relatives, investment scams, KYC or bill-payment tricks, malicious links, job, lottery and loan offers, and sextortion.

Open Chakshu on sancharsaathi.gov.in or in the Sanchar Saathi app, which can report straight from your call log or SMS.
Choose the medium (call, SMS or WhatsApp) and the fraud category, and add a screenshot if you have one.
Enter the number or header with the date and time; the form expects something from the last 30 days.
Describe what happened, verify your own number by OTP, accept the declaration and submit.

Don’t expect a personal reply. DoT analyses the pooled reports to catch misused numbers, handsets and SMS templates, and acts after offering re-verification; a February 2026 ministry reply in Parliament said 7.7 lakh citizen inputs had led to 39.43 lakh disconnections. For WhatsApp, also block and report the sender in the chat. Sanchar Saathi is also where you block a lost or stolen phone.

Warning: Chakshu handles attempts only. Already lost money? Ring 1930 straight away or file at cybercrime.gov.in, then call your bank.

At the counter: Worn out by sales calls? Bring your phone to Mobivault. We’ll go through DND registration with you, using a 1909 call or the TRAI DND app. We’ll also turn on the handset’s built-in spam filter, so it’s sorted when you walk out.

Readers also ask

Can I stop calls that come from 1600 numbers?

Not through DND or caller ID apps. TRAI reserves the series for service and transaction calls from regulated financial firms and government bodies, and bars tagging or filtering them. You can still block a single number on your phone.

I registered for DND last week. Why do promotions still arrive?

Check the sender. DND doesn’t cover ordinary 10-digit numbers, so complain and block. A brand you once gave consent to may keep messaging until you opt out. Also confirm your preference in the TRAI DND app.

Is a complaint filed after 7 days wasted?

It becomes a report, which helps TRAI and operators find spammers but doesn’t start action against that sender.

A caller says TRAI will disconnect my number today. Is that real?

Treat it as fraud; impersonating DoT or TRAI is one of Chakshu’s named categories. Hang up, report it, and never share an OTP or pay.

Why do -G messages ignore my DND setting?

TRAI treats government communication as its own category, and Block Promo deliberately leaves it untouched so public alerts always get through.

What to do now: Text BLOCK PROMO to 1909 or pick categories in the TRAI DND app, switch on your phone’s spam filter, complain about 10-digit sales calls within 7 days and send scams to Chakshu. Keep 1930 saved.

Where these facts come from

All checked on 29 October 2026.

Spam Calls and Texts in India: What Actually Stops Them in 2026

First, read the number or the header

Legal promotions: register a DND preference