Ban on Bulk SMS-es and MMS-es Withdraw by indian govt

The government has withdrawn with immediate effect the ban on sending bulk SMS-es and MMS-es, a notification issued by the Home Ministry said today.

The ban was imposed on August 17, after reports emerged that threatening SMS-es were being sent to students from the North-East in cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad. It was aimed at checking the spread of rumours, which had fuelled panic.

The government had then said that for 15 days, cellphone users would be allowed to send only five messages a day. Later on August 23, the limit was increased from five to 20.

According to the government, since the clashes in Assam, misleading information and hate messages were being spread through SMS-es and MMS-es. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter were also reportedly used to circulate morphed images.

Along with the restrictions on SMS-es and MMS-es, the government had also banned hundreds of web pages.  Source-NDTV

(With Inputs from PTI)

Indian government banned bulk SMSes and MMSes for 15 days

5 SMS per day limit comes into effect.The restriction does not apply on the transaction SMS related to Banking, Financial Institutions and Railway alerts.

 

NEW DELHI: To check spread of rumours which has led to exodus of northeastern people from certain states, government banned from today bulk SMSes and MMSes for 15 days across the country.

"We have banned bulk SMSes and MMSes for 15 days," Union Home Secretary RK Singh told PTI.

The decision was taken after reports of widespread circulation of SMSes and MMSes containing misleading information about Assam violence, threats to people of northeastern origin living in other parts of the country and doctored videos.

The Home Ministry has asked Department of Telecommunications to implement the order through the telecom operators.

From today onwards, no one will be able to send more than 5 SMSes in one go and more than 20 KB of data through mobile phones during the ban period. Though the limit on SMS is on bulk messages, some operators have reportedly levied this cap on person-to-person SMSes as well.

The ban came into force after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that spread of rumours by miscreants had led to people belonging to the north east to flee from Bangalore, Pune and some other parts of the country.

Noting that the guilty should be brought to book, the Prime Minister said that at stake was not just unity and integrity of the country, but also communal harmony.

"Any miscreant fanning rumours should be brought to book," he said.

PTI | Aug 18, 2012, 02.16PM IST

Source-TOI