Draft Broadcasting Bill raises new questions on OTTs, costs

Communication over-the-top (OTTs) apps such as Whatsapp, Telegram and Signal among others may be included in the recently introduced draft Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill 2023, experts said, raising concerns they may be bundled with the broadcasting OTTs such as Netflix.

Experts have also sought clarity on whether such apps will be regulated by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Department of Telecommunication (DoT) or in some cases Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Regulation by multiple government organisations may increase their compliance burden.