Commercial Interests and Subscriber Protection: How the Market Solves Call Labeling

In Russia, from September 1, 2025, there is a mechanism for mandatory marking of calls initiated by legal entities. When an incoming call to the subscriber, the name of the organization and the category of its activities are displayed. According to operators, after the introduction of this measure, the volume of spam decreased by 30%. However, the key issue – the allocation of the costs of the claim – remains open.

Representatives of the Big Four consider marking as a separate service, the content of which is associated with infrastructure costs. The average rate is 30 kopecks per attempt to call, and the fee is charged regardless of whether the connection was established. Banks are challenging this model. From their point of view, the law imposes on the operator the obligation to bring the marking to the subscriber, and the obligation to conclude a paid contract for the initiator of the call is not fixed in it. The Association of Banks of Russia proposed to use the Unified Verification Platform “Anti-Throde” for data transfer instead of drawing up many individual contracts. In addition, the association insisted on the exclusion of blocking personalized calls, including warnings about suspicious transactions as mass.

In the fall, the situation worsened: operators told banks that from October 15, 2026, unmarked calls will not reach subscribers. After the meeting, the introduction of restrictions for credit and financial institutions was postponed to November 15. Beeline has already agreed terms of cooperation with major banks. On November 11, MegaFon and MTS announced a “package solution for the financial sector”, in which the costs of banks cease to depend directly on the number of calls made.

The financial component also reinforces the discussion. Operating profit of MegaFon in 2025 increased by 11.6% and amounted to 222.3 billion rubles, while capital investments decreased by almost 30%. In the business environment, a transparent justification of the labeling price is required.

The dispute is not limited to the banking sector: the costs will fall on all legal entities - from delivery services to marketplaces. Experts believe that the agreement with one operator can become a model for the rest of the market. All parties recognize the value of labeling as a tool to protect citizens. However, it is necessary to define a fair and predictable model of its implementation.