Banking sector in India: Soon banks in India are going to get such a national calling number. Banks will be given numbers in which customers will be able to call banks and bank customers. This change is being made to increase customers’ safety and prevent fraud calls. If this proposal is applied, customers will be able to easily identify whether the call is coming from the bank correctly or not. This is expected to reduce the cases of phone fraud a significant reduction and it will be easier for customers to contact the bank.
What is the situation now?
Currently, banks call customers with many outbound numbers of 1600xx series, but customers cannot call back these numbers. These numbers are only for outgoing and they do not have incoming call facility.
What is a new proposal?
Banks have proposed that every bank gets a unique national number which is in the 1600xx series but it is possible to call on both sides – that is, customers can talk to the bank and the bank customer. According to a bank official, a national number for every bank and the facility of inbound call on it will improve the safety and experience of the customer.
What has happened so far?
Banks have interacted with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on this subject. The banking sector hopes that a concrete decision may come soon.
Concern about recovery agents
Banks have also raised the issue that many banks hand over their loan recovery to third party agents. In such a situation, the question arises whether it will be mandatory for these agents to use the 1600xx series? On this, banks have sought clear guidelines from RBI and TRAI. Also, there has been a demand to give some discounts for customers who have already allowed calls.
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