DOT: NASSCOM & DSCI submit the feedback on the Draft Indian Telecommunications Bill, 2022

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DOT: NASSCOM & DSCI submit the feedback on the Draft Indian Telecommunications Bill, 2022

Varun Sen Bahl

@varunsenbahl1

November 21, 2022

Public Policy

302

Background

In September, the Department of Telecommunications released a new draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022 (Telecom Bill), soliciting feedback from the public on the draft (see here). On November 20^th, NASSCOM & DSCI submitted their feedback on the Telecom Bill.

This follows up from the consultation paper released earlier in July, 2022 (which we summarized here and submitted comments upon as available here).

Our principal recommendation

Our principal recommendation is that the licensing regime should be designed using an activity-led and risk-based approach, and that obligations imposed on an activity must be proportionate to the harms and risks associated with it. It is also important to avoid regulatory overlaps.

In our submission, we have elaborated on this primary recommendation by mapping out the different activities potentially in scope, including some beyond telecom services, against the primary risks that, in our view, the Government of India seeks to address, either via this Bill or via other current or future laws, such as the Information Technology Act of 2000 or any future iteration of it (see here). We then state, with respect to the different examples in the definition of a telecom service, the following:

Broadcasting services should not be in the scope of this law, though existing carriage-related aspects may be in scope as a subset of the activity of providing infrastructure or facilities.
Satellite communication services merit a holistic examination, since their regulation involves multiple government bodies.
Virtual network operators should not be subject to licensing as they are more efficiently regulated through the contractual arrangements, they have with TSPs & ISPs.
OTT communication services should not be subject to licensing, since they are already governed under the IT Act for their relevant obligations.
Machine to machine services should not be subject to licensing, though some requirements may be considered, to the extent relevant from a telecom regulation perspective, on the activity of building network infrastructure and providing connectivity or device management services.
Undefined or outdated terms, like ‘data communication services’, ‘internet-based communication services’, ‘interpersonal communication services’, ‘electronic mail’, ‘audiotex’ or ‘videotex’ should be dropped.

We then recommend the definition of a telecom service be redefined to focus on services “for” telecommunications, and that this, in turn, should recognize the layered approach.

Other recommendations

Beyond this, we also offer recommendations on the rest of the Bill, including on the identification of subscribers, spectrum management, the treatment of equipment, the provisions on national security & public safety, the Telecom Development Fund, along with suggestions from a regulatory governance standpoint. Our detailed submission to DOT on the Telecom Bill is attached.

For more information, kindly write to sudipto@nasscom.in, vertika@nasscom.in, and varun@nasscom.in

#DOT #TelecomLaw #telecomindustry

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Varun Sen Bahl

Manager - Public Policy

Reach out to me for all things about data regulation, cybersecurity policy, and internet governance.