OTT players must pay tax, enable India to strengthen national security: Jio, Airtel, Vi

NEW DELHI: Over-the-top (OTT) players such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Signal and Telegram must be taxed and pay towards the license fee as well as facilitate India in preventing Jamtara-like cyber frauds and strengthen national security, a telco group said.

“OTT communication services must be taxed. They should bear some burden like licensing fee as despite earning from Indian users and networks, their revenue is going outside the country,” SP Kochhar, director-general, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) told ETTelecom.

Kochhar added that such platforms earn money by offering directed advertisements using artificial intelligence, and keep user data at their US-based servers and market it in multiple ways.