NEW DELHI: For pesky calls on your mobile, the telecom service provider should be heavily fined and rightly so the Supreme Court on Tuesday endorsed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) proposal to fine each service provider Rs 5,000 for unsolicited calls that would increase to Rs 20,000 if the call is repeated. 
 

"We think if that's done that's sufficient," observed a Bench of Justices Ashok Bhan and Dalveer Bhandari hearing a public interest litigation seeking regulation of unwanted telemarketing calls causing nuisance to mobile phone users. This rule would however apply to only those subscribers who have registered with the "Do Not Call Register".
 
The court seemed impressed by the Government's idea to hold the service provider liable with a heavy fine. When the petitioner Harsh Pathak, represented by advocate Prashant Kumar pointed out that the proposal of the Government has not been notified yet, the Bench asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Gopal Subramanium to file the draft policy in Court within eight weeks.
 
The Bench partly agreed with the petitioner that the problem required grave consideration. At the same time it noted, "The Government can only take steps to prevent it. And in our opinion the suggested proposals are quite stringent." Moreover, the ASG added, there is a provision to cancel the license of the service provider in the event they fail to prevent such calls.
 
Since notice was issued on the petition, the court had consistently cracked the whip on the Government for framing guidelines to ensure blocking unsolicited calls on mobile phones.