Hanging up on mobile manners

India, which has 362.3 million cellphone users and a booming mobile phone market, lacks basic cellphone etiquette, observed a parliamentary panel, reports Aurangzeb Naqshbandi.

India, which has 362.3 million cellphone users and a booming mobile phone market, lacks basic cellphone etiquette, observed a parliamentary panel.

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The panel lamented that most of the users either don’t know cellphone etiquette or don’t wish to follow it. Instances of mobile phones ringing in condolence meetings, lectures and cinema halls indicate low level of awareness about cell phone manners.

The Committee on Petitions’ observations came on a petition by Gurjit Singh, a resident of Patiala in Punjab, seeking reasonable restrictions on the use of mobile phone in educational institutions, places of worship and other public areas.

The committee also blamed the industry for doing little to educate the users about common etiquette or courtesies. “Mobile users often indulge in cell yell and create nuisance. They need to be educated where and how to use the device without annoying others,” the panel said.

In its report, presented in Rajya Sabha on February 26, the panel ruled out a blanket ban on the use of mobile phones and said that it has become an essential requirement on Monday.

However, it recommended that students carrying cell phones to schools and teachers to classrooms, laboratory and other academic areas should be prohibited. “There may be centrally located landline phone on which important calls for students and teachers can be received.”