Govt to penalise for digging which damages telecom infra

The Ministry of Communications on January 03, 2023, published the Indian Telegraph (Infrastructure Safety) Rules, 2022.

This shall come into force on January 03, 2023

The following has been stated namely:

• Various terminology has been defined under section (2)
• It lays down the Procedure for exercising of legal right to dig or excavate any property namely:

Any person desiring to dig or excavate in the legal exercise of a right with any property in such a manner as is likely to cause damage to a telegraph infrastructure or to interrupt or interfere with telegraphic communication which has been duly placed in accordance with the provisions of the Act, shall give notice to licensee through the common portal, by submitting the information of such digging or excavation, prior to the commencement of the such exercise.

The notice under sub-rule (1) shall include the name and address of the person exercising the legal right, agency details, contact details, date and time of the start of the exercise, description, and location of the exercise, and the reasons for such digging or excavation.

The Damage charges in case of breach of provisions of the rule have been stated namely:

Infrastructure duly placed in accordance with the provisions of the Act shall be liable to pay the damage charges to the telegraph authority.

The damage charges under sub-rule (1) shall be computed based on such expenses as may be incurred in restoring damages. Teamlease Reg Tech