TRAI to decide if broadcast & communication OTTs to be addressed separately

A senior Trai official told ET the regulator will have an internal meeting on November 25 after which a final call will be taken on the issue.

The official said if it was decided that broadcasting OTTs need to be addressed separately, a consultation paper on the issue will be out in January, which will only discuss apps like Amazon and Netflix. After that, the Trai will investigate communication OTTs like Whatsapp, Facetime and Signal to suggest a regulatory mechanism.

In case Trai feels that both broadcasting and communication OTTs can be discussed together, the consultation paper will list out questions accordingly, the official added.
The regulator feels that the issue is wide and complex and proper consultation should happen before any kind of regulatory mechanism is recommended.

The idea about treating broadcasting and communication OTTs separately also arises from the fact that the two categories of OTT players fall in the domain of two separate government departments.

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While communication OTT players such as WhatsApp and Signal fall under the ambit of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) looks after content including apps such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney Hotstar, among others.

Even during the DoT’s inter-ministerial consultation on regulating apps, the MIB had made its stand clear that broadcasting apps come under its purview. MIB believes that content and online news come under its domain and no other department should be involved in regulating them.

The DoT also wants to regulate only communication apps and not the content or broadcasting ones. Telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has made it clear that the basic purpose of regulating communication OTTs is to guard the consumers against frauds and that is the reason why a mandatory know-your-customer (KYC) mechanism has been proposed in the draft telecom bill.

In its reference to Trai seeking to bring OTTs under regulation, the DoT said a mechanism should be evolved wherein it has powers to selectively ban apps to check spread of misinformation. “The need to regulate OTT apps is urgent so as to ensure data security and protection of consumer privacy,” ET had reported earlier, quoting a DoT official.

The DoT feels that there should be a mechanism through which it should be able to control and analyse real-time, so that the spread of misinformation on such apps can be stopped.

The issue of regulating OTT players is a contentious one with most Internet activists and associations representing these app providers such as IAMAI, Nasscom, and US-India Business Council are opposed any kind of regulatory framework. The technology industry highlights that the apps are already regulated by the IT Act and any further regulation will stifle innovation.

But DoT officials feel that regulating these apps now is necessary as technology has changed to a point where misuse of them can be disastrous for the country.

The telecom operators have long been demanding that communication apps should be regulated as they offer the same set of communication services as them. They note that while telcos are subjected to various licensing and regulatory provisions, communication apps are not bound by any such thing.