The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked municipal bodies in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) to forward complaints regarding mobile radiation from telecom towers to local Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cells.

The department’s move has come in the wake of several complaints received by it from a number of operators claiming that their telecom towers are being sealed by various municipal bodies on complaints regarding excessive electro magnetic field (EMF) radiation.

With an aim to check rampant sealing of telecom towers, DoT has written to municipal bodies in Delhi, Gurgaon and Faridabad informing them that that TERM cells are entrusted with checking EMF radiation and their jurisdiction includes Delhi and NCR region. Further, the department has stated that it has the authority to seal towers, following necessary random checks carried out by TERM cells.

Earlier, in 2012, the government lowered the EMF exposure limit from base station or mobile tower emissions to one-tenth of then-existing levels and recommended a penalty of Rs 0.5 million for non-compliance of norms per tower per operator.