BCCI asks cellcos to stop live update, SMS alerts of scores

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has asked all leading mobile operators to discontinue providing live updates and alerts on scores of the ongoing series between India and England.

A legal notice sent through BCCI advocate Ankur Chawla has also asked operators to refrain from similar activities in future without obtaining prior permission of the board. Providing these services needed a legally valid agreement with the BCCI, the notice read.

According to the notice, SMS-based score alerts lead to both unauthorised violation of the rights of the BCCI as well as illegal interference with the its legitimate business.

Most mobile service providers refused to officially comment on this. The notice also states that the Indian cricket board had exclusive television rights, internet and SMS rights and all other similar rights for all test and one day matches played in India, and therefore, the current mobile services were "large scale pirated transmission of live instant information".

The notice has also alleged that operators were continuing with the live updates despite being aware of the recent intern order passed by the Madras High Court, where operators were found to be in violation of the SMS rights exclusively granted by the Pakistan Cricket Board.