Telecommunications Bill 2023 introduced in Lok Sabha
Telecommunications Bill, 2023 in the Lok Sabha.
The new bill has removed over-the-top (OTT) services and apps from the definition of telecommunication services, in a big relief to communication service providers such as WhatsApp and Telegram that will thus remain out of the proposed regulation, people aware of the development told ET.
The government has also proposed administrative allocation of spectrum for satellite services, they said. Global mobile personal communication by satellite (GMPCS) has been incorporated under the first schedule, wherein spectrum will be assigned administratively.
The bill empowers the government to suspend or prohibit use of telecom equipment from countries or a person as may be notified in case of national security threat.
Telecom equipment needs to be procured from trusted sources only. To protect telecom consumers, the bill proposes that prior consent should be taken for receiving promotional messages, advertising, etc, sources said.
The bill proposes to have an adjudicating mechanism in place.
In case of any breach of terms and conditions of telecom licence, the adjudicating officer should pursue an inquiry and pass an order.
The bill is also likely to grant powers to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to probe predatory pricing and take required action.
The sources further said the bill is likely to have removed provisions around right to waive in part or full any fee, including entry fees, license fees, registrations fees or any other fees or charges, interest, additional charges or penalty or damages payable by a licensee. In the original draft, the government had listed out power to waive fee, interest, additional charges, penalty or grant exceptions.
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