NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) may announce its recommendations on regulation of OTT platforms by the end of this month.
The regulatory held an open house discussion on the regulation of over-the-top (OTT) communication services on Wednesday.
TRAI issued a consultation paper on the regulation of OTT communication services (such as WhatsApp and Telegram) in July of last year. Since then, the regulator has conducted consultations on various issues but has yet to finalise its stance on whether OTT services be regulated.
The Telecommunication Act 2024 defines a message as: “any sign, signal, writing, text, image, sound, video, data stream, intelligence, or information sent via telecommunication.”
Given broad definition of a message under the Act, many have interpreted that OTT services would fall under the purview of the regulation. Telecom service providers, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea have been pushing for OTT players to be brought under the licensing, citing similarities in services offered. Recently, in their comments on TRAI’s consultation paper, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) advocated bringing OTT communication services under regulation.