India’s telecom regulator, Trai, is deliberating the possibility of withdrawing its consultation paper on a licensing framework for over-the-top (OTT) communication services, as per a TOI report.

This comes on a day when Gopal Vittal, CEO of Bharti Airtel, sought a “regulatory oversight” for internet-based voice and messaging services to tackle spam and cyber frauds.

Trai chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said a consultation paper for OTT services is under review after the new telecom act had dropped OTT services regulation from its ambit. Govt had said any regulation for OTT services will be taken up in the new IT law that is currently under works.

“I will only say that we will examine this issue. We cannot tell you what can be done, or what can’t be done,” Lahoti said in response to a question from TOI on whether Trai’s consultation paper loses relevance after the OTT subject was taken out of the telecom law.

Vittal, whose company came out with an ‘AI-powered network solution’ that it claims will counter spam, was more direct in his response when asked whether OTT communications services should be held accountable for unsolicited communication. “We need some way by which they come into ambit… a regulatory oversight.”

Telecom companies like Airtel and its peers such as Jio and Vodafone Idea have long been demanding ‘same services, same rules’ as a step to seek regulatory ambit over OTT players such as Meta’s WhatsApp and Instagram, Apple’s Facetime, Skype, and Telegram.

They argue that while traditional telecom companies are subjected to various regulations, including licensing, and are answerable to law-enforcement agencies, the same is not asked from the internet-driven OTT players.