New Telecom Rules That Strengthen Centre's Control To Be Effective Partially From Today

Some significant sections of The Telecommunications Act 2023 will come into effect today, the government had announced last week.

These include rules that allow the government to take over the control and management of any or all of any telecommunication services or network, in the interest of national security, friendly relations with foreign states, or in the event of war. The government can also intercept messages if there is a threat to law and order.

The government has said the entire law is based on principles of inclusion, security, growth and responsiveness to achieve the vision of developed India.

The Telecommunications Act, 2023, was passed by parliament in December 2023. It received the President's assent on December 24, 2023 and was notified the same day.

"Guided by the principles of Samavesh (Inclusion), Suraksha (Security), Vriddhi (Growth), and Tvarit (Responsiveness), the Act aims to achieve the vision of Viksit Bharat (Developed India)," the government said in a statement last week.

With these new rules in effect, the universal service obligation fund will become Digital Bharat Nidhi, which can be used for funding research and development, and pilot projects instead of just supporting the establishment of telecom services in rural areas.

The new rules also add a mandate of protecting users from spam and malicious communications.

The Telecommunications Act, 2023 is aimed at repealing existing legislative frameworks like Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and Indian Wireless Telegraph Act, 1933 owing to huge technical advancements in the telecom sector and technologies.

The rules pave the way for enforcement of non-discriminatory and non-exclusive grants of right of way for telecom network roll-out and give power to the central government to set up common ducts and cable corridors, the Centre has said.

With inputs from PTI