As OTT-based voice calls surge, govt Telecom Bill looks to regulate apps for public safety, national security purposes

Voice calls over platforms like WhatsApp are hard to track under the current regulations

India's draft Telecom Bill, which seeks to regulate Over-The-Top (OTT) communication platforms, has raised a number of privacy concerns, according to an Economic Times report. The move is driven by a manifold increase in voice calls over platforms like WhatsApp, which are hard to track under the current regulations.

It is understood that a substantial portion of voice calls in India currently takes place via OTT platforms. While it is difficult to quantify what percentage of voice calls take place over the internet, a Department of Telecommunications official told the publication that the number was estimated to be around 60 to 70 per cent of the total calls.

Internet data consumption in India has also grown substantially: As opposed to an average monthly consumption of 1 GB of data in 2017-18, users now consume an average of more than 18 GB of data per month. With the introduction of 5G services, this number is expected to increase. The number of smartphone users has also steadily gone up over the past few years.

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Given this situation, officials told ET that regulating OTT voice calls were of prime importance, especially with regard to consumer safety and national security.

Many online financial scams take place over OTT voice calls whose data is often not stored, making it difficult for authorities to track the culprits.

While telecom operators are required to store Call Detail Records (CDRs) of all voice calls for at least a year and carry out know-your-customer processes, no such regulation exists for OTT communication platforms.

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CDR data is often used by security agencies to track miscreants and the absence of such a requirement for OTT platforms makes tracking criminal elements considerably more difficult. This is where the draft Bill comes in: Through it, the government is seeking to create a level playing field for telecommunications companies and OTT communications platforms by introducing similar regulations.

Under the Bill, the definition of telecom services has been expanded to include OTT platforms with similar licensing requirements. While there remains some confusion over the specifics of the implementation, the government is collecting feedback on the Bill till Oct. 20.