No role in rejection of Congress SMS campaign in Maharashtra, says TRAI

New Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS) The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Monday refuted reports that it had rejected Congress’s application to send SMS messages to its workers in Maharashtra regarding a campaign on the state’s 2024 elections.

TRAI clarified that it has no role in approving or rejecting individual SMS campaigns.

The regulator said that such approvals are handled by telecom service providers (TSPs) as per the framework under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018.

In a statement, TRAI said, TRAI) has noted certain media reports alleging that TRAI has rejected the application of a political party for sending SMS to its workers in Maharashtra in relation to a campaign of the party. TRAI categorically denies any role in the acceptance or rejection of such individual SMS campaigns.

“No application was received by TRAI for sending SMS to a political party’s Maharashtra cadre. TRAI doesn’t approve individual SMS templates.”

“The rejection was done by the service provider, not by TRAI.” The regulator reiterated that it was “at no stage involved in this process.”

“In view of the above, TRAI reiterates that it has no role in the specific instance reported in the media,” the regulator added in its statement.

Earlier, Congress had alleged that TRAI rejected its application to send SMS updates about a documentary claiming that the Maharashtra 2024 elections were “stolen.”

The party had also shared screenshots suggesting that the messages were blocked as “protest content.”

Congress leaders reacted strongly to the rejection, accusing the government of censorship.

Data analytics department chairman Praveen Chakravarty said the episode reflected “perfect synchronisation between the home ministry, EC and telecom regulator to suppress information.”

MP Manickam Tagore went further, claiming that TRAI was acting like the “IT cell of BJP,” while party chief Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Election Commission of stonewalling key information in related cases.

TRAI’s clarification makes it clear that the rejection came from one of the service providers, STPL, and not from the regulator itself.

--IANS

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