SC notice to Centre,Trai to fix cap on SMS charge

The Supreme Court on Monday sought explanation from the Centre and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Trai over the rationale of differential in SMS charges being levied by different telecom players.

A bench led by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir issued notices to the Centre and Trai and sought their responses within two weeks.

Appearing for petitioner NGO Telecom Watchdog,advocate Prashant Bhushan argued that there appeared no reasonable and permissible criteria for levying arbitrary SMS charges and that the tariff ranged from about 1 paisa per SMS to Rs 1.50 per SMS only at whims of the operators.