OTT backers criticise proposed selective banning of apps in submissions to TRAI

livemint.com:

New Delhi: Industry bodies, civil society organizations and consumer groups have raised concerns to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India over regulation of OTT apps, specifically on the selective banning of OTT apps, as has been proposed by the regulator in its ongoing consultation. In their submission to the TRAI, which is undertaking consultations over OTT regulation, the bodies including Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Broadband India Forum, Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) and Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) comprising nearly a dozen consumer groups, have said that such apps were already regulated under the IT Act 2000 which will be replaced by the upcoming Digital India Act (DIA), hence the ongoing consultations should form part of Digital India Act and any other additional consultations by regulators like TRAI will also lead to overlap of regulatory structure.

BIF said that the current regulatory landscape has fostered a healthy app economy growth in India, marked by one of the world’s highest annual app download rates, and so any attempt to introduce new regulatory frameworks could disrupt the existing competitive landscape and compromise consumer benefits and innovation. “We hope that the regulator and the Government will allow market forces to operate freely, incentivising growth and progress in this vital sector.

TSPs can compete freely, and OTTs should not face restrictions in favour of telecom service providers," BIF president T V Ramachandran said. Amol Kulkarni and Shiksha Srivastava of CUTS in their submission said that if the process for selective banning was not clearly laid down, it would result in regulatory uncertainty and further overregulation.