Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) passed a new directive for commercial calls and SMS to regulate Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC). It would help prevent fraud and bring transparency to the unorganized SMS industry.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court challenging this directive. It was contended that the directive violated the fundamental rights of privacy of people and has led to an increase in the number of unrequested calls and SMS to commit fraud and hacking. It failed to comply with the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR) and went beyond the powers which were entrusted to it by the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) Act.
The petitioner pleaded that the court should give directions to comply with the provisions of TCCCPR Regulations not only to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) but also to various other telecom operators.
On Monday a bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde, AS Bopanna & R. Ramasubramaniun refused to hear the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and said that if required the petitioner can take the matter to the Delhi High Court, but the apex court cannot entertain this plea.
