Telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said over-the-top (OTT) players or applications won’t be covered under the new telecom bill and will continue to be regulated by the Information Technology Act of 2000.

 

The minister’s first official comments on the issue are likely to allay concerns raised by some app makers and activists that the broad definition of ‘telecommunications’ can be interpreted to cover any internet-based communication, said industry executives and experts.

 

“OTT has been regulated by the IT Act of 2000 and continues to be regulated by the IT Act. There is no coverage of OTT in the new telecom bill passed by the Parliament,” Vaishnaw, also the minister for electronics and IT, as well as railways, The Economic Times reported.

 

The clarifications come amid fears raised by some internet activists over the broader definition of telecom in the Telecommunications Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday and by the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. The bill is now awaiting presidential assent.

 

Some lawyers had also argued that due to a general definition, it can’t be said with certainty that OTT players – especially those who provide communication services, such as WhatsApp (owned by Meta), Telegram and Signal – won’t be covered under the bill.

 

The clarification by the government will help settle the confusion around the issue, said a spokesperson for Meta. “We welcome the clarification on exclusion of OTTs from the telecom bill… We believe this will further boost the digital ecosystem and internet economy in the country,” the spokesperson told ET.