Delhi High Court scrapped TRAI’s Limit on the Number of Daily SMSes

Delhi High Court on 13 July 2012 scrapped the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) guideline to cap daily SMS limit at 200. TRAI, the telecom watchdog of India, on 5 September 2011 had ordered the telecom companies to restrict the number of daily SMSes per SIM at 100. The number was however, increased to 200 subsequently.

A division bench of acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw observed that such a restriction on the number of SMSes per day violates the citizens’ fundamental right of freedom of speech and thus be scrapped. The judges however, upheld the capping of unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) SMSes.

The court's verdict came hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by an NGO against the TRAI's order, challenging its imposition of a cap of 200 SMSes per day per person. The PIL sought to do away with such restriction on SMS number as it infringes the very idea of constitutional right of free speech.