Phone-tapping meet

Government officials and representatives of telecom service providers will meet on Friday to discuss the contentious issue of phone-tapping and individual privacy.

This will be the second time in a fortnight that the key players of the telecom sector will meet to deliberate on this issue. Telecom company executives led by DoT Secretary JS Sarma will discuss the issues with Home Secretary VK Duggal.

The meeting may lead to a consensus between the industry and the government on framing guidelines for a long-term solution to the problem.

Sarma and Duggal had already met twice recently to discuss this matter. Besides, DoT officials had also met company representatives last week to find answers to specific issues that have been raised by the home ministry.

"A full-fledged discussion is demanded by the operators," said a DoT source.

For the government, reaching a possible solution will also help allay the allegations of its involvement in the recent incident of phone tapping involving Samjawadi Party MP Amar Singh.

Operators are also keen to work out a solution as they had been recently summoned by the Delhi Police, and were asked to plug loopholes in their organisation, which could lead to unauthorised interception of calls.

The Supreme Court, too, has issued notices to the ministries of communications and home affairs and the Delhi Police in the Amar Singh case.