Supreme Court Declines to Prohibit Telcos from Reissuing Deactivated Mobile Numbers

Supreme Court Declines to Prohibit Telcos from Reissuing Deactivated Mobile Numbers

In a landmark decision delivered recently, the Supreme Court of India dismissed a writ (Rajeshwari V. Union of India & Ors) that raised concerns regarding the allocation of cellular mobile telephone numbers and the potential privacy risks associated with recycled mobile numbers.

The petition contested the practice of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which involved reallocating deactivated cellular mobile telephone numbers to new subscribers following a 90-day waiting period. The petitioner asserted that this policy presented a substantial privacy concern, as it might permit unauthorised to access personal data linked to the previous subscriber's WhatsApp account.

Advocate Sanjay Kapur, who acted as TRAI's legal representative in court, contended that the reassignment of deactivated numbers pertained to the administration of numbering resources, a matter well within the jurisdiction of TRAI.

In its affidavit, TRAI informed the Court that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had issued two instructions in April 2017. These directives specified that a cellular mobile connection, which had been deactivated due to non-usage or disconnection at the subscriber's request, should not be assigned to any other subscriber for a minimum period of 90 days. The licensee could extend this period as needed from the date of deactivation or disconnection.

The Apex Court, in its verdict rendered by Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S.V.N. Bhatti, upheld TRAI's policy and rejected the petition. The Court noted that TRAI's policy strikes a reasonable balance between the imperative of efficiently allocating limited mobile numbers and safeguarding privacy. Additionally, the court acknowledged that WhatsApp has put in place safeguards, including account inactivity monitoring and data deletion, to mitigate the risk of privacy breaches.

The Bench further stressed that it falls upon the former subscriber to take measures to prevent the misuse of WhatsApp data associated with the previous phone number. This can be accomplished by deactivating the WhatsApp account linked to the old number and clearing WhatsApp data stored in the local device memory or cloud storage.

The Court's ruling has been appreciated by the telecommunications industry, which has consistently contended that TRAI's policy is essential for the efficient allocation of mobile numbers.

In light of the explanations and safeguards presented by TRAI and WhatsApp, the Court rejected the current writ petition filed by advocate Rajeshwari.