Government withdraws ban on bulk SMSs, MMSs with immediate effect

NEW DELHI: The government today withdrew the ban on bulk SMSes and MMSes which was imposed to check spread of rumours related to the violence in Assam that led to exodus of people hailing from the northeastern states from Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune.

The decision was taken after the social unrest that gripped various parts of the country due to the rumours generated through SMSes, MMSes and web contents reduced in last few days, a Home Ministry spokesperson said.

The restriction on sending more than five SMSes in one go and more than 20 KB of data through mobile phones came into force on August 17. On August 23, the government increased the number of SMSes to 20 per day.

The restriction was put in place after reports of widespread circulation of SMSes and MMSes containing misleading information about the Assam violence, threats to people of northeastern origin living in other parts of the country and doctored videos.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too had said that spread of rumours by miscreants had led to people hailing to the northeast flee from Bangalore, Pune and other parts of the country.