Is AI Calling Legal in India? What TRAI’s 2025 Rules Actually Say

Short answer: yes. AI calling is legal in India, but it is commercial communication, so the same Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) rules that govern human telemarketing apply to it. What changed in 2025 is how hard those rules now bite. This guide sticks to what the regulation itself says, and flags the places where vendor blogs routinely get it wrong.

Last updated September 2026. This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice. For a live campaign, read the regulation and check with your telecom provider.

Which rules govern AI calls in India?

Commercial calls in India are governed by the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR), as amended by the TCCCPR (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2025, published by TRAI on 12 February 2025. The regulation does not mention AI-generated voices by name. The conservative reading, and the one most operators take, is that an AI voice agent placing calls without a live human on your side is an auto-dialer or robo-call for these purposes. Plan as if it is.

Separately, India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 governs how you collect and use the phone numbers and call recordings themselves. TRAI decides who you may call and how; the DPDP Act covers what you do with the personal data.

Can I make promotional AI calls to numbers on the DND list?

No, unless that person has given you explicit consent. Under the amended regulation, promotional voice calls may only be delivered to subscribers who have not blocked that category in the Preference Register, or who have given consent in the Consent Register. Explicit digital consent, captured the way the regulation specifies, lets a promotional call through regardless of the person’s DND preference.

In practice that means a bought or scraped list is not something you can run promotional AI calls against. Your best-performing lists are also the safest: people who filled in your form, asked for a callback, or are already customers.

Do I have to tell anyone that I use an auto-dialer or AI caller?

Yes, you have to tell your telecom provider. The amended Regulation 4 says every sender must notify its Originating Access Provider, in advance and in writing, about the use of auto-dialers or robo-calls and the intended objective of those calls. Do this before the first campaign, not after a complaint.

Many vendor blogs say the 2025 amendment makes you disclose to the person you’re calling that the call is automated. The amendment’s text puts the duty on notifying your provider. Telling the recipient is still the right default: open every call by saying it’s an AI assistant calling for your business. It reduces complaints, and complaints are what trigger enforcement.

Which number series should AI calls come from: 140 or 1600?

It depends on the type of call. TRAI’s explanatory memorandum to the 2025 amendment says promotional auto-dialer and robo-calls should go out on 140-series numbers only, while service and transactional calls use the 1600-series that the Department of Telecommunications allotted for them. Lead generation and sales offers are promotional. Order confirmations, appointment reminders and service updates to existing customers are service or transactional.

If promotional content is mixed into a service call, the regulation treats the whole call as promotional. An appointment reminder that ends with an upsell is a promotional call.

What happens if people complain about my AI calls?

Complaints can suspend every telecom connection you have, not just the number that made the call. Recipients can complain within seven days of a call. If complaints come from five or more unique recipients within ten days, the access provider suspends outgoing services on the telecom resources used and investigates. If the investigation finds you sent unsolicited commercial communication:

• First violation: outgoing services on all your telecom resources, including PRI and SIP trunks, are barred by all access providers for fifteen days.
• Second and later violations: all your telecom resources are disconnected by all access providers for one year, and you are blacklisted from getting new ones.

Because the penalty covers all your lines, including SIP trunks, one bad campaign can take down your whole company’s phones, support line included.

What does a compliant AI calling setup look like?

• Call people who asked to hear from you: form fills, callback requests, existing customers. Record where and when that consent came from.
• Scrub promotional lists against the DND preference register before every campaign, not once a quarter.
• Notify your telecom provider in writing that you use automated calling, and what for.
• Use the right number series for the call type, and don’t mix an upsell into a service call.
• Open every call by saying it’s an AI assistant calling on your behalf, and honour “don’t call me again” immediately.
• Keep recordings and transcripts so you can answer a complaint with evidence.

What does Rymiq handle, and what stays with you?

Rymiq gives you the AI calling agent, the campaign runner, and a recording and transcript of every call on the Pro plan, which is your evidence trail. Rymiq does not scrub your list against the DND registry or register numbers on your behalf. Those stay with you and your telecom provider. Calls go out over a line you own: Real phone calls go out through your own VOIPstudio line, so carrier minutes are billed by your provider, not by us.

Rymiq’s agent script is yours to write, so put the AI disclosure in the opening line. For how the agent itself works, see what an AI calling agent is, or go straight to cold calling AI and pricing.

Sources

• TRAI, Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2025, 12 February 2025, including its explanatory memorandum.