DoT proposes fee, penalty waiver under new telecom rules

The central government on September 21, 2022 released the draft Indian Telecommunication Bill under which it has proposed a provision to waive off fees and penalty of telecom and internet service providers. The ministry has proposed provision for refund of fees in case a telecom or internet provider surrenders his license.

“Seeking your views on the draft Indian Telecom Bill 2022,” Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a post on a social media platform in which he also shared the link of the draft bill. The last date for public comment on the draft is October 20.

According to the draft , the central government may, “waive in part or full any fee, including entry fees, license fees, registrations fees or any other fees or charges, interest, additional charges or penalty” for any licence holder or registered entity under the telecom rules.

The bill proposes to exempt “press messages that are intended to be published in India” of correspondents accredited to the central or state government from interception. However, the exemption will not be granted in case of any public emergency or in the interest of the public safety, sovereignty, integrity or security of India, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, or to prevent incitement to an offence, according to the draft.

In such cases “any message or class of messages, to or from any person or class of persons, or relating to any particular subject, brought for transmission by, or transmitted or received by any telecommunication services or telecommunication network, shall not be transmitted, or shall be intercepted or detained or disclosed” to the authorized officer, according to the draft bill.

The bill also mentions that auction will be the key means for allocation of spectrum but it also provides an enabling framework for assignment of spectrum through administrative process or non-auction methods for radio backhaul spectrum and airwaves for government and public interest sectors such as defence, research and transportation.  

Airwaves for public sector units BSNL and MTNL have also been included in non-auction allocation. The government will prescribe the frequency range, methodology for pricing, price, fees and charges, payment mechanism, duration and procedure in such cases. 

In addition to addressing protection of users and prevention of cyber-frauds using telecom services, the bill also enables a legal framework for preventing harassment of users from unsolicited calls and messages, a move that is set to provide massive relief to millions of mobile phone users that get spam calls or messages on a daily basis.