Telecom min preparing internal report on Vodafone disclosure

Report is being prepared to verify the authenticity of reports that the company was approached by several countries, including India, to have access to phone calls and text messages on its network

The communications and information technology ministry is preparing an internal report to verify the authenticity of reports that telecom giant Vodafone was approached by several countries, including India, to have access to phone calls and text messages on its network.

Highly-placed sources told PTI that the report is being prepared on instructions of the new government and will be placed before communication and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad for further action.

The issue has already snowballed into a row, with opposition leaders asking government to clarify its stand on Vodafone's disclosure that India was among the 29 nations that had sought access to its network to intercept calls, text messages and e-mails last year.

Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, then in the opposition, had accused the then Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government of tapping phones of its political opponents.

Revealing its cooperation with state agencies, Vodafone in a 20-page report titled ‘Law Enforcement Disclosure’, said direct wires were connected to its network, allowing live conversations to be listened to and recorded. The wires also allow agencies to verify the location of a user.

Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said, "At least one company has accepted it. We have been talking about it for years. We raised it when (Arun) Jaitley's (then Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha) phone was tapped. If the government has not given an order for this, people should know." Communist Party of India’s D Raja said after Vodafone's disclosure, it was for the government of India to "set the record straight"."It should explain its position...common people do not have access to such areas. Government will have to face the allegation made by Vodafone and set the record straight," he said.