SMS back in Kashmir, DoT withdraws its order

The Department of Telecommunications  (DoT) on Friday evening decided to withdraw its order imposing restrictions on SMS services in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a statement issued here, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology stated : “The press release issued earlier during the day by PIB on the subject, “DoT ISSUES DIRECTIVES TO UAS/CMTS SERVICE PROVIDERS IN J and K”, therefore, stands withdrawn.”

Earlier in the day, the DoT banned short message service (SMS) for post-paid subscribers in Jammu and Kashmir with effect from Friday midnight.

The DoT’s decision left only prepaid customers to enjoy the SMS facility.

The Government’s decision came in the backdrop of increased security concerns.

The DoT had asked all the 12 operators including the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL),Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar, to withdraw text message service from their postpaid users  in the State.

"In case of existing post-paid users, the service should be withdrawn immediately," a statement from DoT said.

In case of prepaid subscribers, the facility has been restricted to 10 SMSes per day per subscriber.

"SMS messages originated outside J and K service area in India and from the networks of International Long Distance (ILD) operators should not be delivered to mobile subscribers in J and K service area," the statement said.

The DoT had also asked all operators to immediately stop tariff packages offering free SMS service.