Regulatory lens back on OTT apps

The move to regulate OTT apps has surfaced all over again — raising privacy concerns at a time many of these apps have tightened encryption protocols to deter any invasion. Two years ago, Trai said there was no need to regulate these apps.

In a report as late as Sept 2020, Trai had concluded no regulatory interventions were required in respect privacy and security of OTT services at the moment. The regulator said market forces may be allowed to respond to the situation without prescribing any regulatory intervention.

However, developments shall be monitored and intervention, as felt necessary, shall be done at appropriate time. But the department of telecommunications (DoT) has now asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to come up with a framework to regulate OTT communication apps such as WhatsApp, Signal and Google Meet, which offer free voice amid messaging services using the mobile data of telecom operators.