Truecaller & TTBS Reveal 79% Indians Avoid Calls

Truecaller & TTBS Reveal 79% Indians Avoid Calls

The State of Business Calling 2026 report, commissioned by Truecaller in partnership with Tata Tele Business Services (TTBS) and researched by Kantar, surveyed more than 500 B2B businesses and 1,000 consumers across 17 Indian cities. It finds that while 76 percent of consumers prefer receiving business voice calls over digital alternatives, a larger 79 percent actively avoid answering calls from numbers they do not recognize.

Voice is identified as the most trusted and widely used channel for business communication in India, outranking email, SMS and chat combined. It remains the preferred medium for interactions that demand clarity (56 percent), reassurance, urgency or high‑stakes decisions. However, trust in voice is eroding due to spam, inconsistent caller identity and poorly timed outreach.

Among consumers, 49 percent say that the ability to schedule a callback at a convenient time would markedly increase their willingness to engage with business calls, followed by clearer visibility of caller identity and purpose. On the business side, 64 percent prioritize caller identity, verification symbols and call‑purpose previews when designing voice outreach.

A misalignment is highlighted between how businesses use voice and how they measure its effectiveness. While 41 percent state that trust and brand perception drive their decision to employ voice, the metrics tracked on scorecards are predominantly transactional: response rate (72 percent), time‑to‑resolution (57 percent) and cost per interaction (53 percent). Metrics that capture relationship value—higher CSAT (42 percent), stronger customer retention (36 percent) and emotional reassurance—are largely absent.

Regulatory frameworks such as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) registration and the use of 140 and 1600 number series aim to differentiate promotional from service calls, yet consumers may still receive essential service calls despite Do‑Not‑Disturb preferences, underscoring the need for recognizable identity and clear context.

Sector‑specific reliance on voice is noted in BFSI and IT services for verification and compliance workflows, and increasingly in e‑commerce and logistics for transactional and support communications. The report also introduces three proprietary benchmarks—Voice Adoption Index, Feature Engagement Index and Feature Interest Index—to help enterprises assess their current standing and future investment priorities.

Truecaller, with 500 million active users worldwide, more than one billion downloads and 68 billion spam/fraud calls identified in 2025, emphasizes its focus on verified identity and contextual communication to rebuild trust. The company has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since October 2021. Tata Teleservices Limited, listed on NSE and BSE (ticker TTML), provides enterprise connectivity, collaboration, cloud, security and marketing solutions across more than 60 Indian cities, positioning voice as a critical channel for enterprises seeking secure, intelligent and context‑aware communication experiences.