Draft telecom bill not final, Trai issues being addressed: Vaishnaw

New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is addressing the concerns of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) over a possible dilution of its powers under some provisions of the draft telecom bill, said communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. He underlined that it’s only a draft legislation at this stage and changes can be made.

Speaking to ET, the minister allayed the concerns of companies that offer over-the-top (OTT) communication services such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram, saying the government will only introduce light-touch regulations, keeping consumer interest, security and issues of cyber fraud in mind.

Vaishnaw also said that the DoT will soon announce a series of procedural reforms.