We have no dedicated cell
phone laws in India or mobile
phone laws in India though they are very much required.
Similarly, we have no mobile
cyber security in India and mobile connections and
handsets are vulnerable to cyber attacks and malware infections.
We also do not have any electronic
authentication policy of India and many e-surveillance
oriented projects like Aadhar
project of India are managed in India without any
parliamentary oversight and legislative framework. This is definitely
violation of privacy
rights of Indians. We must also have a national policy for
mobile
governance and e-authentication in India.
However, Indian government is least bothered to
mange these crucial fields. Indian government becomes active in these
fields only when its own interests are at stake. For instance, India
is getting stricter regarding false IMEI numbers and norms.
This is because India is finding it difficult to indulge in
e-surveillance with false IMEI capable mobile sets.
Now media reports have suggested that the telecom
regulator TRAI is planning to approach the Commerce and Industry
Ministry to ban imports of mobile phones carrying unauthentic unique
IMEI identification number, which helps authorities track users.
In order to archive this task, TRAI would soon write
to the Commerce Ministry to ban such phones. It has been suggested
that import of only those cell phones should be allowed which are
certified by GSMA and TIA authorised bodies for GSM and CDMA handsets
respectively.
Further, the Department of Telecom (Govt of India)
(vide reference NO-20-40/2006/BS-III(PT)(VOL.I)/201 dated 3rd
September 2009), has directed all cellular mobile service providers
not to allow calls to be made from Mobile handsets with invalid IMEI
number after 30th Nov 2009. However, during a recent test conducted
in a telecom service area, government officials were surprised to see
over 18,000 mobile handsets using same IMEI number.
Besides IMEI numbers, Indian government is also
serious of regulating pre paid SIM cards so that they may not be
misused by criminals
and terrorists. However, Indian government must a take a
holistic action in this regard and mere piecemeal actions, that also
those serving its own interest, would not be in the larger interest
of India.
