IAFI and TEMA call for simplification of the Draft Telecom Bill

ITU-APT Foundation of India (IAFI) & Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association (TEMA) organized a virtual workshop to review the draft of the new Telecom law. The event was addressed by the Department of Telecom as well as eminent telecom and legal luminaries including Sr Advocate, Lalit Bhasin, President Society of Indian Law Firms and PK Malhotra, the former Law Secretary and others.

The Government of India had initiated a public consultation to develop a modern and future-ready legal framework for telecommunications in India, keeping this in mind a draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022 was introduced. IAFI has been working rigorously to create a clear picture regarding the telecommunication bill.

Bharat Bhatia, President, (IAFI) emphasised on the importance of Licensing under the current Act and the draft bill, the new provision for exemption and lastly on the Penalty Provisions for possession of Wireless Equipment. Prof. NK Goyal, Chairman Emeritus TEMA congratulated the Department of Telecommunication for the initiative taken to overhaul the 137-year-old Indian Telegraph Act.”

Naveen Kumar, Director Strategy, (DoT) presented a summary of the Draft Telecommunication Bill, 2022 and covered the details of various clauses in the proposed new act. Anand Singh, Joint Secretary DOT also elaborated various steps taken by DOT for consulting various stake holders in the process of developing the text of the new bill.

Sr Advocate, Lalit Bhasin, President Society of Indian Law Firms spoke on the need for a new generational law like the current initiative taken by Department of Telecommunication, and the importance of new law since he believes that “there is a need for the online world to be liberated from the ram-shackles structure of accretive peace meal regulation resulting from a series of amendments to the law”

PK Malhotra, Former Secretary Law expressed his views on the silent features of the bill, and the changes under the bill are always a way forward, the pre-legislative consultation process towards this bill is impactful in nature as it creates a holistic view by considering the views of each organisation leading to better bill representation.

N Sivasailam, IAS(Retd) Former SST DOT & Former Secretary Logistics corroborated his ideas and expressed that “the aim of the bill should be determined by the goal that this bill is focused and created in such a way that it last for another 150 years and is futureproof in ways that will help the end consumers”

R Chandrashekhar, IAS(Retd.) Former Secretary DOT/Meity, also was a panellist in this workshop and said that “the whole digital system ecosystem has a regulatory architecture and the telecom bill falls in the crux of this architecture and keeping this architecture in mind the three-legged digital space i.e., carriage, technology and content making it easier to navigate”

Harsh Walia (Advocate), Khaitan & Company one of India’s longest standing law firms also shared his remarks via a presentation by emphasising on “hurdles and resolutions regarding the same and also Effective RoW critical for 5G roll-out and Quality of Service, he also mentioned about the crictal aspects on who controls the spectrum in terms of insolvency and what is the procedure applied by a resolution professional.

Karnika Seth, Advocate & Cyber Expert spoke on the “pertinent need to avoid duplication of laws so as to reach a harmonious interpretation of the bill, complimented with an emphasises on right to privacy, regarding how much of real data or data in general can be protected for the user.

Lasty, Aniket Singhania, (Advocate) Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas expressing his views, on OTT services as to how there would be overlapping jurisdiction in terms of extra territorial jurisdiction. He also suggested the alignment of KYC requirements in ordinance with personal information protection of an individual.

CT Bureau