In a new directive, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked the cellular service providers to immediately stop use of short codes that start with either of the digits 0,1,7,8 or 9.

Currently, a number of mobile content providers use short codes such as 7333 and 8888 to offer services such as ring tone downloads, games and polling.

These short codes which have been a major revenue churner for mobile operators and content providers charged at Rs 6 per SMS were being used by some of the TV channels as well for voting and interactive services.

Now after the TRAI directive, they will have to change the short code on which they offer the service.

TRAI has said short codes starting with these digits are not permissible under the national numbering plan. It has asked the operators to report compliance to the authority within 15 days of issue of this direction. The numbering plan of telecom services is decided by the Department of Telecom in such a way that the numbers are utilised efficiently. While `0' is reserved for STD calls, `1' is used for emergency numbers such as 100 and 101 and also toll free numbers like 1800 and the digit `9' is used for mobile services.