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.