MPs demand ban on unsolicited calls

Cutting across party lines, lawmakers on Thursday said there should be a ban on unsolicited calls and short messaging services coming on mobile phones.

"There is a place where you have to register your number to block calls and I have done that.

"So I am not getting those calls but I am getting SMSes on real estate in dozens and as a consumer I feel it is a violation of one's privacy and there should be a system to ban it," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters outside Parliament.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is also not immune to unwanted and unsolicited calls from loan companies.

He got one such call for home loan on Monday while he was in a breakfast meeting with opposition leaders to find a way out of the logjam in Parliament over the issue of price rise.

Demanding a ban, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Venkaiah Naidu said, "It has become a big nuisance as I am receiving about 30 to 40 unwanted calls a day. But now Pranab babu has got such a call and I hope something would be done to stop the menace."

Biju Janata Dal member of Parliament Kalilkesh Singhdeo said, "We are receiving several unwanted calls and SMSes daily which have become a nuisance.

"There should be a complete ban on it."

Agreeing with Singhdeo, Congress MP Rashid Alvi said, "This is really becoming a nuisance and it should be banned."

Many MPs have complained that unsolicited calls have become a regular feature on their phones.