Deactivated Mobile Number Not Assigned To New User For 90 Days, TRAI Tells Supreme Court; WhatsApp Data Removed When Account Inactive For 45 Days

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has told the Supreme Court that once a cellular mobile telephone number is deactivated for non-usage or disconnected on the request of the subscriber, it is not allocated to a new subscriber for at least a period of 90 days.

A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice SVN Bhatti observed that it is for the earlier subscriber to take adequate steps to ensure that privacy is maintained.

The Court also said that a subscriber can prevent misuse of WhatsApp data by deleting their WhatsApp account attached with the previous phone number and erasing the WhatsApp data stored on the local device memory/cloud/drive.

WhatsApp informed the Court that in case of re-cycled phone numbers, WhatsApp monitors account inactivity. When an account is inactive for 45 days and then the account is activated on a different mobile device, the old account data is removed.

Recording these observations, the Court disposed of a writ petition filed in 2021 which raised concerns about misuse of mobile numbers after they are disconnected or deactivated.

Case Title: Rajeswari V Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 699/2021

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 951

Click here to read the order