In September last year, TRAI came out with a
highly illogical way to curb the unwanted SMS by introducing the 100 SMS/ day limit which was later increased to 200 SMS/day following the huge criticism
from the telecom operators and public at large.
In an interesting and more logical development
in this story, the Delhi High Court on 13th July 2012 has overruled
TRAI’s order of limiting the maximum number of messages (SMS) that consumers
can send per day. The petition was filed by an NGO, Telecom Watchdog.
The Delhi High Court decision gives a sense of
relief and brings smiles on the faces of Indians for whom texting is most
popular way of communicating with friends and relatives. But at the same time
it raises questions on the policy decisions made by the Government and it’s
regulators, especially those that have direct impact on the day-to-day lives of
the citizens of this country.
This is not the only case where a Court has
reversed a decision made by Government or it’s regulators. And that’s why question
arises that what makes the Government take such decisions that are so
impractical to implement and illogical to decide and which can be easily
challenged in the courts. It’s well known that the Indian Judicial System has
it’s own huge backlog and these unwanted cases and petitions increases it
furthermore. And more than that, the time lag between Government taking a
decision and Court ruling it out, puts a significant amount of unwanted burden
on the citizens of India who suffer just because of highly un-thoughtful
thinking of decisions makers.
