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NASSCOM Feedback on the draft Indian Telecommunications Bill, 2022
NASSCOM Feedback on the draft Indian Telecommunications Bill, 2022

January 2, 2023

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On November 20, 2022, we submitted our feedback on the draft Indian Telecommunications Bill, 2022 (Bill) released by the Department of Telecommunications (DOT).

We stated that to attune telecom regulation to the 21st century and align with existing telecom policy, two more objectives may be introduced:

  • The Bill should recognise the importance of telecommunications for our fundamental rights.
  • The Bill should enable (1) competition and (2) a regulatory climate that supports investments into modern networks & technologies.

Our principal recommendation was that the licensing regime should be designed (1) using an activity-led and risk-based approach (2) that ensures obligations on an activity are proportionate to the harms and risks associated with it (3) whilst keeping in mind the need to avoid regulatory overlaps.

To frame this, we reviewed similar efforts in other jurisdictions (e.g., South Africa, European Union and Canada), and of recommendations from the ITU, the following design points to be relevant:

  • Identifying ‘activities’ that constitute telecom markets and restricting the scope to them.
  • Establishing precise definitions that are not open-ended and do not unintentionally capture services not intended to be scope due to their ancillary features.
  • Distinguishing between the various sub-types of a ‘license’ (such as ‘class licenses’ or ‘general authorizations’ that the ITU prefers over individual licensing).
  • Identifying risks associated with different activities after deliberation with stakeholders.
  • Creating proportionate obligation for different harms and risks.
  • Avoiding regulatory overlaps and conduct periodic review of obligations.
  • Providing clear statutory timelines for licensing process and procedures.  

In particular, it is important to shift away from licensing individual service-providers by default. Traditionally, licensing, as an approach has been traditionally used in telecom regulation to achieve:

  • Public policy objectives (e.g., attract private-sector investment into networks by granting monopoly rights and right of way, safeguard publicly owned resources like spectrum or numbering rights), or
  • Public policy goals like universal service or interconnection, or to
  • The prevention of defined risks or harms (e.g., threats to network security or public safety).

Various services currently mentioned in the definition of a telecom service are already regulated under other laws, such as the IT Act. The Government also plans to replace or complement the IT Act with a new law. At this stage, we assume that the interplay between this Bill and the IT Act or a related future law would be considered to avoid overlaps.

Apart from our principal recommendation, some other important recommendations included:

  • The following changes be considered on the definition of a telecommunications service in clause 2(21):
  1. It should be redefined to focus on services “for” telecommunications, and this should, in turn, recognise the layered approach.
  2. It should only cover a well-defined and closed set of services. This set should be identified basis Recommendation 1 above.
  3. New services should be brought into the scope of telecom services in clause 2(21) only through legislative amendment and not by notification.
  • The exclusive privilege under clause 3(1) should be limited to spectrum assignment and to establishing, providing, and maintaining network facilities.
  • The following changes be considered on clause 4(1): 
  1. Statutory timelines for processing any application for a license, spectrum assignment, or any other kind of approval or permission.
  2. License fees should be clarified as only for covering administrative costs.
  3. New licenses (or changes to current ones) will be subject to prior public consultation.
  4. New services should be brought into the scope of telecom services in clause 2(21) only through legislative amendment.

We attach below our feedback as submitted to the DoT. Please contact vertika@nasscom.in, sudipto@nasscom.in or varun@nasscom.in for any queries and concerns.


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Vertika Misra
Director - Public Policy

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