Telecom Cos. Violating TRAI Guidelines By Not Lodging FIRs In Cyber Frauds Committed Using Their Services: Patna HC

The Patna High Court on Tuesday made a prima facie observation that the Telecom companies are violating the guidelines of the TRAI by not registering F.I.R. with regard to the cyber frauds committed by using their SIM."...they have come up with a novel way of filing a complaint in the office of the D.G.P. and getting an acknowledgment of the same and as per them, this is the procedure followed by the Telecom companies...Telecom companies are acting under the license granted by the Government and they cannot try to outreach the terms of the license," the Court added.In these circumstances, the Circle Heads of Bihar of all Telecom Companies i.e. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, B.S.N.L., and Reliance JIO Limited have been directed to join the Court proceeding virtually on January 13, 2022, and also directed to file an affidavit as to how they are abiding the guidelines of the TRAI.Essentially, the Bench of Justice Sandeep Kumar observed thus while dealing with an anticipatory bail application of a person operating from Nawada city in Bihar, who was allegedly found in possession of mobile phone numbers contained in 28 pages for the purpose of cheating the general public at large.While denying him anticipatory bail on October 21, 2021, the Court had issued a show-cause notice to the Investigating Officer of the case as to why the accused persons of the case had not been arrested though the cybercrime case was of the year 2020.On Tuesday, in connection with another case related to cyber fraud, the Court was informed by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarpur that around Rs.5 crores had been siphoned off from the P.N.B. and the investigation was going on and some accused persons including one official of P.N.B. have been arrested.The A.G.M., P.N.B. through advocate Suresh Prasad Singh, submitted before the Court that the Anti Fraud Department and the Cyber Cell of the P.N.B. was inquiring into the matter and still the inquiry was going on. Significantly, the Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarpur pointed that due to some fault in the 'App' of P.N.B. this kind of fraud has been perpetuated all over the country.Therefore, the Court directed P.N.B. to inform the Court regarding the steps taken for making necessary changes in their 'App' after getting a complaint from Muzaffarpur and other places.The person In-charge of Cyber Security, as well as the persons maintaining the 'App' of the P.N.B., have been directed to appear in person before the Court through virtual mode on 13.01.2022 to inform the Court as to what steps have been taken to remove the deficiencies/defects in the 'App' of the P.N.B.Further, since the note filed by the Reserve Bank of India couldn't properly explain the concerns raised in the note of the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Court directed the RBI to appear before the Court through a responsible officer well conversant with the facts on 13.01.2022.Case title - Shiv Kumar v. The State of Bihar and othersClick Here To Read/Download Order

Telecom Cos. Violating TRAI Guidelines By Not Lodging FIRs In Cyber Frauds Committed Using Their Services: Patna HC

Sparsh Upadhyay

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