In a very insane move by the Indian Government, a limit of 5 sms per day has been imposed on GSM and CDMA mobile users of India. From August 18, 2012, mobile users can send only 5 sms per day to the maximum after which the messages don’t get delivered with a prompt indication from the mobile operator.
The move was made by TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) to curb the spread of rumors which was meant to spread fear and to vacate North Eastern Indian’s from certain states. Home Ministry said that the rumors led to the flee of North East Indian’s from states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra and hence the move was necessary. The rumor SMSs contained misleading information related to Assam Violence
The restriction does not apply on the transaction SMS related to Banking, Financial Institutions and Railway alerts.
Moreover, one cannot send more than 20 KB of data, not more than 5 MMS per day as well. According to some reports, the rule has not yet been implemented by Airtel, in some parts of the country.
When the 6th message was tried from Aircel, the following message was sent by the operator.
“Due to Govt. directives, More than 5 SMS per day are blocked. Please retry tomorrow. Anticipate your co-operation.”
Other operators will come up with a similar message ” Hi! You have sent 5 SMS today. As per Govt. guidelines, you can’t send more than 5 SMS today. Your SMS services will be resumed post Midnight.”
No inputs about what the existing users will do about their SMS Booster Packs which allows them to send 100 or 200 SMS per day depending on the pack. The money won’t be refunded and the validity of the pack can’t be extended either!
It’s a very disappointing news for Indian Youngsters! There seems to be no point in curbing the SMS limit to 5 per when already there has been a limit of 200 per day.
There are plenty of Alternatives available. If you are an Android or iPhone User, you can install WhatsApp, Viber Apps for free unlimited texting over the Internet, provided the receiving user also has that App installed on their mobile with proper access to the Internet.
Source: The Times Of India
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said he had directed intelligence personnel to trace the source of rumours and false information being spread against the northeast population through SMSs and websites such as YouTube and facebook. Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh said that to check rumours, bulk SMSs and MMSs have been banned for 15 days with immediate effect. No one would be allowed to send more than 5 SMSs at a time and more than 20 KB of data through mobile phones. During his intervention in the Lok Sabha, Dr. Singh, a Rajya Sabha member from Assam, said the northeast was a very sensitive region and whatever might have happened in Kokrajhar and other areas should not be used as an occasion to fan rumours. Communal harmony and unity and integrity were at stake and everyone should work to create an atmosphere to end rumour-mongering.
Source: The Hindu
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