Hyderabad: The Telugu Desam has released several broadcast advertisements showing its president N. Chandrababu Naidu calling people and asking for their preferred candidate.
When asked if such an exercise is legal, Rajan Mathew, director general, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), said, “Mobile phone users’ data should not be used unless it is made available publicly by a public authority. I am not sure how they got all that information, but it is a violation of telecom rules and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) can take note of it.” TRAI guidelines say that the mobile phone number of an individual can be shared with third parties only when that individual permits. Doing so without the explicit permission of the mobile phone user is illegal as it is considered personal information.
The system launched by the Telugu Desam is now being compared to e-marketing hounding people to declare their preferences. P.V.S. Chandrasekhar, a city based chartered accountant, says, “If I don’t want to vote for the Telugu Desam in the first place, why would I tell the party which candidate to select? Why should they trouble me with calls?”
TD insiders say this system will allow the party to make contact with more people. “If we ask people to call us, there might not be much of a response but if we call voters there will be better traction,” a TD insider privy to the system said.
Asked for a response on privacy issues surrounding the new system, TD leader Kambhampati Rammohan Rao said vaguely, “Yes it is. We will call people and ask them to enter their candidate preferences.”
However, election authorities say this is not a violation of poll code. A. Sri Devasena, deputy chief electoral officer, said, “I don’t think it is a violation of the poll code as long as something wrong is not said. As election authorities, we should stick to the rules and if there is nothing communal or derogatory said in the speech on the phone, it is all right.” She said telecom authorities will look into it. “My mandate is not to look into privacy issues. It is for the telecom authorities to decide,” she added.
To curb the nuisance of commercial organisations calling up people and hounding them to buy their products, the National Do Not Call Registry (NDNC) was created where people can register themselves and prevent such calls. Rajan Mathew, director-general, COAI, says, “The DND registry has only seven categories at present. And political parties don’t fit in there. So, the election authorities have to check for whether it is correct”
