The Pakistan Society Watch (PSW) on Sunday demanded limits on sending text messages so that millions of subscribers receiving unwanted messages could get some relief. Millions of text messages are sent and received daily which help officials to claim achievement and support operators to expand business, said a press release.
President of the PSW, Syed Makhdoom Abbas said that authorities and companies seem little concerned about its impact on society and trouble it causes to subscribers.
He said cellphone owners receive dozens of unsolicited commercial messages, poetry, jokes, rumours, appeals etc on daily basis due to the facility of sending thousands of text messages against a small payment.
He said frequent campaigns by operators inviting consumers to spend more in the name of lucky draws and quizzes to win gold, cars and costly gifts etc has added to the problem.
Bulk SMS packages have helped many to start m-commerce business without realising that people respond negatively to unwanted text messages; he said adding that ethics should not be compromised for profits.
Syed Makhdoom Abbas said that unlimited SMS packages should be discontinued and a limit of 50 messages per day should be imposed on every mobile phone subscriber.
This will not end spamming but it will reduce the number of fraudulent messages and inconvenience to 108,894,518 subscribers, majority of whom are victims of privacy violations, he observed. He said that a large number of youth have addicted to SMS which is compromising their abilities; this should be a matter of concern for the authorities.
Sending content to unsuspected recipients on their wireless devices having viruses has become a hobby for many, he disclosed.