Starting January 15, all consumers trying to dial a mobile number using landline phones will need to prefix the mobile number with the numeral 0, the Department of Telecom (DoT) said on Wednesday.
The order, which is in line with recommendations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, is expected to free up sufficient numbering resources for future use.
“All Fixed to Mobile calls will be dialed with prefix ‘0’ from 15th January, 2021...There will be no change in dialing plan from fixed to fixed, mobile to fixed and mobile to mobile calls,” the DoT said, adding that a approximately 2539 million numbering series is expected to be generated due to the process, freeing up sufficient numbering resources for future use.
With the freeing up of sufficient numbering resources, more number of connections can be added in future, which will be beneficial to the mobile customers at large, it said. “The...changes have been done in order to have minimum inconvenience to the subscribers and free up essential numbering resources,” DoT said.