According to reports, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has contacted the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to get its opinion on the creation of a framework for the regulation of voice and text messaging services on the internet. According to a report, the rule may target over-the-top (OTT) service providers like the Google Meet, Signal, and WhatsApp owned by Meta, among other apps and services. For years, Indian telecom companies have urged TRAI to make sure that the standards it has established for telcos also apply to these services, which offer comparable calling and messaging capabilities.
According to a report by PTI quoting an unnamed government official, after the DoT rejected the TRAI's earlier recommendations on internet telephony, the latter sought extensive references on OTT service providers that enable users to make calls and send messages over the internet.
In view of the shifting environment brought on by new technologies, the DoT last week requested new recommendations from TRAI, which had earlier stated that there was no need to regulate OTT services. According to the report, TRAI had recommended that internet service providers (ISPs) could offer internet telephony for placing calls on phone networks if they paid interconnection fees, which have since been eliminated for telecom operators. They could also offer the service if they installed lawful interception equipment.
The government has not yet made its intentions to control OTT service providers public.
It is important to note that telecom operators have been putting pressure on TRAI regarding the regulation of OTT players in the country for years. The telecoms have argued that these services should be subject to the same laws on quality of service and legitimate interception, as well as licencing fees.
