EC bans misuse of SMS by political parties

Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India has issued instructions to prohibit the misuse of Short Message Services during the campaign by political parties and punish the offenders, in the run-up to the General Elections to the Lok Sabha to be held in Telangana on April 11.

To implement the instruction of the ECI, the Telangana police, in coordination with the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, has established a special mobile number—9490617523 — to register complaints by members of the public against objectionable or objectionable SMS messages received by them.

Officials will initiate investigation of these complaints, identify the sender of such messages and take appropriate action under the relevant provisions of the Model Code of Conduct, the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of People Act, 1951.