Draft telecom bill date extended: Why there may be KYC for WhatsApp, Signal and others, and more – Times of India
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has extended the deadline for submission of comments on the draft telecom bill, 2022, to October 30 following requests from stakeholders. “In response to requests received from several stakeholders, the ministry has decided to extend the last date for receipt of comments till October 30,” DoT said in a notification. The earlier deadline for submission of comments was October 20.
The draft telecom bill, unveiled in late-September, has enlarged the definition of telecom services and brought OTT communication services (such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram), satellite-based communication services, internet and broadband services, in-flight and maritime connectivity services amongst others under its ambit. Bringing OTT communication under telecom means companies platforms such as WhatsApp, Signal and others may need to conduct know-your-customer (KYC) verification of their users, just as telecom operators do. Here’s what this means and why government may stress on this:
Why government is proposing KYC for WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal and others
The move to regulate over-the-top (OTT) communication players such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram is said to be driven by exponential increase in voice calls over these platforms in the last few years. Government says that it is hard to track these calls, creating challenges, including in relation to national security and financial fraud. Communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said last month, “[The] distinction between voice calls and data calls has disappeared. KYC needs to be done for all [all such] platforms and the services have to come under the same law.”
Over 50% voice calls on OTT apps
According to a senior Department of Telecommunications (DoT) official, 60-70% of voice calls are currently taking place over apps like WhatsApp, Signal and more. For example, social media major WhatsApp counts India as its largest market, with over 500 million users and accounts for a bulk of the calls made over communication apps. Telecom operators too maintain that a substantive portion of voice calls is via OTT, however, say that it is difficult to quantify this in percentage terms, as all happens over data sessions, which can be measured in bytes and not minutes.
To track illegal activities
According to DoT officials, while voice calls can be easily tracked in case of issues of national importance like security, it is not possible for OTT calls. Telecom operators are mandated to store call details record (CDR) of all voice calls for at least a year. CDR data comes in handy when required by security agencies. There is no such requirement for OTT calls at present. The government now wants to frame a mechanism under which the licence conditions for OTT apps would include local storing of data for a certain period.
Most financial scams done on OTT apps
Enabling these provisions will allow law enforcement agencies to track illegal activities using OTT platforms. Officials said most online financial scams are through OTT calls and it becomes impossible to reach the culprits due to lack of data.
Will this end WhatsApp encryption
DoT officials insist that there is no plan to force decryption of encrypted messages in the draft telecom bill, but there is a clear mechanism for interception, based on a Supreme Court judgement.
What do OTT players say
OTT players are against any move to be included under telecom laws, claiming that they are already regulated by the Information Technology Act and further regulation will stifle innovation.
What do telecom companies say
Telecom operators have been asking for the ‘same service, same rule’ principle for a few years now. These companies’ argument is that they pay levies and buy spectrum in auction to offer voice and messaging services, while OTT platforms run on their infrastructure and pay nothing. Apps have historically countered telcos’ claims, saying that operators benefit from rising data usage by charging subscribers.
The draft telecom bill, unveiled in late-September, has enlarged the definition of telecom services and brought OTT communication services (such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram), satellite-based communication services, internet and broadband services, in-flight and maritime connectivity services amongst others under its ambit. Bringing OTT communication under telecom means companies platforms such as WhatsApp, Signal and others may need to conduct know-your-customer (KYC) verification of their users, just as telecom operators do. Here’s what this means and why government may stress on this:
Why government is proposing KYC for WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal and others
The move to regulate over-the-top (OTT) communication players such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram is said to be driven by exponential increase in voice calls over these platforms in the last few years. Government says that it is hard to track these calls, creating challenges, including in relation to national security and financial fraud. Communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said last month, “[The] distinction between voice calls and data calls has disappeared. KYC needs to be done for all [all such] platforms and the services have to come under the same law.”
Over 50% voice calls on OTT apps
According to a senior Department of Telecommunications (DoT) official, 60-70% of voice calls are currently taking place over apps like WhatsApp, Signal and more. For example, social media major WhatsApp counts India as its largest market, with over 500 million users and accounts for a bulk of the calls made over communication apps. Telecom operators too maintain that a substantive portion of voice calls is via OTT, however, say that it is difficult to quantify this in percentage terms, as all happens over data sessions, which can be measured in bytes and not minutes.
To track illegal activities
According to DoT officials, while voice calls can be easily tracked in case of issues of national importance like security, it is not possible for OTT calls. Telecom operators are mandated to store call details record (CDR) of all voice calls for at least a year. CDR data comes in handy when required by security agencies. There is no such requirement for OTT calls at present. The government now wants to frame a mechanism under which the licence conditions for OTT apps would include local storing of data for a certain period.
Most financial scams done on OTT apps
Enabling these provisions will allow law enforcement agencies to track illegal activities using OTT platforms. Officials said most online financial scams are through OTT calls and it becomes impossible to reach the culprits due to lack of data.
Will this end WhatsApp encryption
DoT officials insist that there is no plan to force decryption of encrypted messages in the draft telecom bill, but there is a clear mechanism for interception, based on a Supreme Court judgement.
What do OTT players say
OTT players are against any move to be included under telecom laws, claiming that they are already regulated by the Information Technology Act and further regulation will stifle innovation.
What do telecom companies say
Telecom operators have been asking for the ‘same service, same rule’ principle for a few years now. These companies’ argument is that they pay levies and buy spectrum in auction to offer voice and messaging services, while OTT platforms run on their infrastructure and pay nothing. Apps have historically countered telcos’ claims, saying that operators benefit from rising data usage by charging subscribers.
For all the latest Technology News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! TechNewsBoy.com is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
