Telecom Bill likely to stipulate authorisation regime for OTT apps

Instead of a licensing regime proposed in earlier versions, the Telecom Bill will likely stipulate an ‘authorisation regime’ for over-the-top (OTT) messaging apps such as Telegram, Signal, WhatsApp, and others, according to a report in The Economic Times (ET).

An official was quoted as saying that the final version of the telecom bill will also discard any authorisation or even permit system for service layer apps such as e-commerce, gaming apps, and payment gateways.