HC sets aside limit of 200 SMSs per day for personal use

The Delhi High Court on Friday set aside the cap of 200 SMSs per day sent through a mobile phone SIM for personal communications but upheld the curb on unwanted commercial SMSs saying they infringed the “equally” important right to privacy of “unwilling recipients“. “And the conditions imposed upon the freedom of speech is not reasonable which would be protected under Article 19 of the Constitution,” a bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said. “We have already pointed out that the TRAI has found that UCC calls and SMSs were interfering with the personal lives of the individuals as often telemarketers would call them up for selling their products. Partly allowing the petition of Anil Kumar, secretary of NGO Telecom Watchdog, the court, however, granted liberty to TRAI “to come out with more appropriate regulations for regulating unsolicited non-UCCs SMSs that could meet the test of reasonableness under the Constitution.” Related stories Madras High Court asks TRAI to end the menace of unsolicited messages