Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Political Mirror

Policy

Parliamentary panel raise apprehensions over draft telecom Bill provisions

NEW DELHI: Members of the parliamentary panel on IT on Friday expressed apprehensions about some provisions of the new draft telecom bill and sought details from the Telecom Ministry about how the law will ensure data safety and privacy, sources said.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology chaired by Shiv Sena MP Prataprao Jadhav met here for the first time after it was reconstituted and deliberated upon the draft telecom bill — circulated for stakeholder comments last month.

Top officials of the Telecom Ministry were present in the meeting and MPs across party lines raised questions about data safety and the privacy provisions in the proposed legislation and sought written reply from the ministry, sources said.

Some MPs also asked about the future role of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as the proposed bill’s provisions might reduce the regulator’s powers, sources said.

A few members suggested that the bill gives the administration overarching powers under the garb of national security but without adequate oversight mechanism.

Some members flagged that the definition of Over The Top (OTT) communication apps was not very clear, they said.

Some members wanted to know about possible health hazards when a large number of telecom towers for 5G and other services are coming up. They emphasised that there is a need to have adequate safeguards to tackle possible health and environmental hazards, sources added.

Senior officials of the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) who were present in the meeting took note of the issues and said they would come back with comprehensive responses, according to sources.

In the draft bill, the telecom department has also mooted a provision for the refund of fees in case a telecom or internet provider surrenders his licence.

Meanwhile, telecom service providers are pushing for OTT apps to be brought under regulation. They argue that apps offering services similar to them — say Whatsapp, Signal and other similar apps used for calling and messaging — should be subject to the same licence conditions as telcos, thus ensuring a level-playing-field for all technologies.

Source: Press Trust of India

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Policy

NEW DELHI: Soon after the Women’s Reservation Bill was tabled by India’s Law Minister Arjun Meghwal in the Lok Sabha, Industrialist and Philanthropist Abhishek...

BJP

MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will begin its Maha Jansampark Abhiyan, a month-long campaign, on Wednesday, during which it will reach out to...

BJP

BHUBANESWAR: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Odisha on June 17 and address a public meeting in Dhenkanal, a senior party...

NCP

NEW DELHI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday declared his daughter Supriya Sule and former Union minister Praful Patel as working presidents of the...

2024 Lok Sabha Polls

GONDA: BJP MP and outgoing WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing allegations of sexually harassing female wrestlers, on Sunday said he...