Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav tabled the Telecommunications Bill 2023 in Lok Sabha amid the din. The bill allows the government to suspend or prohibit telecom equipment use from countries or individuals for national security reasons. Particularly services requiring prior consent for promotional and advertising messages.
The Bill says: “On the occurrence of any public emergency, including disaster management, or in the interest of public safety, the Central Government or a State Government or any officer specially authorised in this behalf by the Central Government or a State Government, if satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do, by notification— (a) take temporary possession of any telecommunication service or telecommunication network from an authorised entity; or (b) provide for appropriate mechanism to ensure that messages of a user or group of users authorised for response and recovery during public emergency are routed on priority.”
The law suggests setting up an adjudicating system. Should there be any violation of the license’s terms and conditions, the adjudicating officer shall conduct an investigation and issue a directive. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is expected to be given more authority by the law to investigate exploitative pricing and take necessary action.
Three laws—the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1933, and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act of 1950—are anticipated to be replaced by the proposed legislation.
As a huge respite to communication service providers like WhatsApp and Telegram, OTT (Over-the-top Platforms) and apps have been removed from the definition of telecommunication services. Furthermore, according to sources, the administration has suggested allocating spectrum for satellite services administratively. Under the first schedule, which calls for administrative spectrum assignment, global mobile personal communication by satellite (GMPCS) has been included.
It is to be seen what follows in the course.