The Hindu Business Line : SC notice to Govt, cell cos, banks on unsolicited calls

THE Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Government, cellular operators and multi-national banks on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a law to ban unsolicited calls, especially from telemarketing executives.

A Bench comprising Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde and Mr Justice S.B. Sinha issued notice to as many as 11 respondents on the PIL filed by Mr Harsh Pathak who termed the spam calls as an invasion of privacy and violation of right to live a peaceful life.

The cellular operators said that they supported the SC intervention. "We are in favour of banning such unsolicited calls. It is in the interest of our consumers. This is why we are against the publication of a directory of mobile users, which would compound the problem.

"In fact, the companies which use this medium to push their products should be held liable and not the mobile operator who is just offering a service," said Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India.

The notice has also been issued to the Law and Justice Ministry, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, Hutch, Reliance Infocomm, Idea Cellular and Bharti Tele-Ventures. Banks including Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered, HDFC and ICICI have also been served the notice.

Senior advocate Mr Vivek Tankha, appearing on behalf of the petitioner, contended that these unsolicited calls for a loan, card or even a new connection impaired the fundamental rights of citizens.

The PIL said that the mobile service providers and telemarketers were using the personal information of the subscribers for their business purposes.

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