The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Telecommunications Bill, 2023, by voice vote after a brief discussion.
Replying to a short discussion, in which four members participated, Communications and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “the Bill seeks to empower the telecom sector and boost the economy through structural reforms.”
“The biggest reform in this Bill is user protection. With this Bill, we have focused that there is no take up of fraudulent SIM cards without KYC…we have a clear framework on interception, and clear checks and balances have been taken care of in the Bill based on Supreme Court judgement with regard to interception,” Vaishnaw said.
The discussion that lasted for about an hour witnessed participation from three members of parliament (MPs) representing political parties – Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSCRP), Biju Janata Dal (BJD), and Shiv Sena. From the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jayant Sinha participated in the discussions.
While the opposition members presented their views in-line with the provisions of the Bill, they sought clarifications from the government on issues like ambiguity in the definition of telecommunications and telecommunications services and whether it seeks to regulate online services including over-the-top (OTT) players as well, clarity on power of government to intercept messages and take over telecom network, administrative allocation of spectrum for state governments as well, among other things.
The minister, however, did not give any clarification in the Lok Sabha, which was sought by some members on whether the Bill will regulate OTTs or not.
The Bill will be now introduced in the Rajya Sabha for consideration and passing.