TRAI rejects Congress bid to send SMS with documentary link on Maharashtra poll fraud

New Delhi: Dismissing Congress’ charge that the TRAI had blocked its attempt to send messages about the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections being “stolen, " the telecom regulator on Monday said that it has no role in the acceptance or rejection of such individual SMS campaigns.

"TRAI categorically denies any role in the acceptance or rejection of such individual SMS campaigns. The approval or rejection of SMS message templates is carried out by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), " the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement.

"TRAI is not involved in the acceptance or rejection of individual SMS campaigns. These functions are carried out by TSPs in accordance with the framework prescribed under TCCCPR, (Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations), 2018," the statement said.

Without naming Congress, the TRAI said no role in the specific instance was reported in the media.

TRAI in a post on X also said, application was submitted to one of the service providers, who rejected it.

The Congress on Sunday claimed that the TRAI rejected its application for sending out SMSes to its Maharashtra cadre with the link of a documentary on how Maharashtra assembly elections were allegedly “stolen” on the grounds that it is “content related to protest”.

Chairman of Congress’s data analytics department Praveen Chakravarty had said the Congress wanted to send SMSes to its Maharashtra cadre of the link to the YouTube documentary “How the MH 2024 election was stolen”, and as per government process, an application was filed with TRAI for approval.

He had claimed TRAI rejected permission to send SMSes, saying it is ‘protest content’.