Mumbai: The department of telecommunications (DoT) has issued new guidelines for phone interceptions, replacing “contentious existing call-interception protocols”. The Union government notified the new Telecommunications (Procedures and Safeguards for Lawful Interception of Messages) Rules, 2024, to outline the procedures for law enforcement and security agencies to intercept messages for specific reasons and periods.
The notification specifies that the competent authority for interception orders can be authorised by the home secretary at the Union level or the chief secretary at the state level. In urgent situations, a joint secretary or an inspector general-level officer may issue orders, but these must be submitted to the competent authority within three working days for confirmation.
As per the new guidelines, any interception order confirmed by the competent authority shall be submitted to the review committee at the central or state level within seven working days of its issuance or confirmation. The law enforcement agency is required to submit fortnightly reports listing interception orders issued or confirmed.
The telecom ministry has mandated that if the competent authority does not confirm the interception order within the stipulated time frame, the intercepted messages cannot be used for any purpose and must be destroyed within two working days. The new regulations also remove provisions related to fines and suspension of telecom licences over unauthorised interception of communications.
The new rules will strike a balance between national security and individual privacy, said a senior intelligence official tasked with telecom interception for national security. However, activist and Advocate Aditya Pratap said that the rules are at odds with the Supreme Court order in the 1997 case of People’s Union for Civil Liberties vs Union of India. “The top court had ordered that any interception of telephone calls should be ordered by the rank of home secretary. Whereas, the new guidelines mandate that concurrence of the home secretary should be obtained within seven days,” he pointed out.
Highlights of new rules
Interception order shall be submitted to the review committee within 7 working days
Law agencies required to submit fortnightly reports listing interception orders
If competent authority does not timely confirms order, intercepted messages cannot be used
