- A Supreme Court writ demands Nepal Telecom (NTC) cease unsolicited Caller Ring Back Tones (CRBT).
- The petition claims NTC plays CRBT without user consent, citing stress and service quality degradation.
- The petitioner argues that NTC's CRBT broadcasts lack formal authorization, impacting user satisfaction and revenue.
A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court demanding that Nepal Telecom (NTC) stop playing Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBT) without users’ consent. Advocate Bimal Pokharel filed the writ claiming that the company has been playing CRBT without any written official permission from the communication ministry.
Nepal Telecom plays CRBT during festivals, special occasions, celebrations, and some monumental days. But the service has often been dismissed as forced on the users. Of course, you can subscribe to the Ntc CRBT service as well. However, the issue is that the company also plays it when the users (customers) are not requesting or wanting it.
Petitioner Pokharel says that NTC has been playing CRBT under verbal orders of the MoCIT, NTA chairman, and the government officials. But, he says, there is no formal and official provision for the company to do so. He has demanded an immediate stop to Ntc playing CRBT without the users’ consent.
The petition states that users are forced to listen to predetermined voices, songs, and other messages every time they make a call. Further, it reads that uncalled-for CRBT is giving users stress and even degrades the quality of service. It has also forced some users to switch to other telecom services, affecting the revenue and profit of the government-backed telecom company.
Advocate Pokharel said, “The unnecessary playing of color ring back tones has made the service recipients uncomfortable. This is increasing anger towards Telecom. Telecom has been playing CRBT on the orders and instructions of higher authorities. I have filed a writ petition demanding that it be stopped.”
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Writ against Nepal Telecom CRBT
The writ was filed against Nepal Telecom CRBT on Shrawan 19, which was challenged by the Registrar Man Bahadur Karki. After the dismissal, Advocate Pokharel again filed a petition on Shrawan 26 demanding its cancellation. Hearing on that petition, the bench of Justice Til Prasad Shrestha annulled the dismissal order.
MoCIT has made a provision that telecom companies can broadcast informative tunes with permission from NTA by charging a fee. This allows telecom companies to play tunes without necessarily seeking customers’ consent. So, the case with NTC CRBT is not new, but the petition at the SC could trigger a new dialogue on the practice.
CRBT or no CRBT?
The idea of having to listen to CRBTs is a prolonged topic in Nepal’s telecom industry. On the one hand, telecom companies broadcast special messages on particular occasions. On the other hand, some sections of consumers have criticized the ‘forced’ messages on their networks. Especially, users have expressed their dislike over the fact that every time they make a call, they have to listen to the CRBT, and there’s no way they can stop it.
So, questions have been raised as to why paying customers are forced to listen to CRBT even if they are not demanding it. On this and other reasoning, advocate Pokharel has filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court.
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What is your honest opinion on Ntc CRBT played on special days during calls? Do they give a disservice to you, or do you have no major issues with them? You can share in our comment section below.
