HC declines to entertain PIL for direction to telcos not to block incoming calls during COVID-19

The Delhi High Court Friday said courts cannot do charity at the cost of others while declining to entertain a PIL seeking directions to TRAI and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to ensure that operators do not block incoming services of subscribers during the COVID-19 pandemic "Telecom companies also need money.

The Delhi High Court Friday said courts cannot do charity at the cost of others while declining to entertain a PIL seeking directions to TRAI and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to ensure that operators do not block incoming services of subscribers during the COVID-19 pandemic "Telecom companies also need money. Courts cannot do charity at the cost of others," the high court said. Taking note of the observation by a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan, the petitioner-law student decided not to press for the reliefs sought in his plea.

"Petitioner is not pressing the writ petition. It is disposed of as not pressed," the court said. The law student, Priyatam Bhardwaj, had contended in his petition that telecom companies' action of blocking incoming calls and messages on account of failure to recharge subscription is causing grave hardship to people who cannot afford to spend money on that in the prevailing circumstances.  "Forcing a person amid financial crunches to recharge their subscription out of limited resources they are left with in order to prevent the blocking of incoming calls and incoming messages causes grave prejudice to them," the petition had said.  The petitioner said he had made representations to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the DoT in May with regard to not blocking incoming facilities on any mobile number during COVID-19 pandemic.  While no response was received from TRAI, the DoT said it will consider the proposal, but no steps have been taken till date, the plea had said.  The petition had also sought directions to the telecom service providers (TSPs), like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone, to restore incoming services on numbers which they had blocked for non-payment of subscription during COVID-19 pandemic.

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