Sedulity Groups | Ban on bulk SMS Released

The Centre on Thursday lifted the ban on bulk SMS and MMS that was imposed to check the spread of rumours and inflammatory content related to the ethnic violence in Assam that had led to the exodus of northeastern people from Bangalore and other cities.

The decision was taken as the social unrest that gripped various cities due to these rumours has subsided and the flow of hate content has also reduced to a large extent in the last few days, a Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson said.

Following the exodus from Bangalore and other cities due to rumours generated through SMS and MMS, the MHA banned bulk SMS/MMS on August 17. Initially, the Department of Telecommunications had allowed only five SMS per day, per mobile, that was increased to 20 per day on August 23.

Meanwhile, the MHA has issued fresh guidelines for issuing SIM cards by service providers to streamline the process of giving new connections to check the misuse of mobile phones by anti-national elements.

The DoT has made it mandatory for mobile operators to sign the consumer application form prior to activation of the SIM card, thereby certifying that the information provided is correct and has been properly verified.

“The date of sale of SIM and activation of SIM is required to be established from the entries in the CAF. For this purpose, entry of date is to be made with the signature of subscriber at the time of filing of CAF,” the DoT said.

It said the form should also contain the signature of the person at Point of Sale (PoS) during the time of verifying the subscriber and documents.