A new report from PTI has revealed that The Department of Telecom (DoT) has sought views of TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) on the internet calling and messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal and more to prepare a framework for regulating them. A government official on Wednesday revealed this.
The Department of Telecom has sent back the older recommendation from TRAI on internet telephony issued back in 2008 for review, citing the change in the landscape of the sector and the emergence of new technologies.
"The Internet Telephony recommendation of TRAI was not accepted by the DoT. The Department has now sought a comprehensive reference from TRAI for internet telephony and over-the-top players," the official told PTI.
TRAI has previously recommended that the apps and services that provide internet telephony and internet messaging need not be regulated. DoT has not accepted this suggestion and has asked for further clarification.
Telecom companies have been asking the government to level the playing field in the industry on the basis of "same service, same rules". They want the internet calling apps to pay the same license fee, and comply with the same regulatory interception and quality of service requirements as applicable to them.
Why do telecom operators want regulations in this sector?
It is economics.
Telecom operators lose a lot of revenue to messaging and calling apps. In addition to that, they also are required to pay licensing fee to provide calling and messaging services, while the apps doesn't need to pay any.
They need the government to consider the traditional services and services provided by the app equally.
What does this mean?
In the worst-case scenario, WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal could stop the internet calling service on its platforms, like UAE. But we don't see that happening as UAE has actively blocked internet calling on apps.
If licensing fee is introduced for apps to offer text and calling services over the internet, it could mean that a lot of free messaging and calling apps to be stopping their services in India. And many apps would even start charging the user for the services.
But what exactly would happen could be known after the official announcement of regulations from DoT.
