Telecommunications Bill 2023 secures Lok Sabha approval, heads to Rajya Sabha for final review

The Indian Telecommunications Bill 2023 was tabled in the Parliament on December 2023

The Indian Telecommunications Bill 2023 was passed in the Lok Sabha on December 20. The bill was introduced by Minister of Communications Ashwini Vaishnaw in the lower house of the Parliament on December 18.

The bill seeks to supersede the existing regulatory framework for the telecommunication sector, based on the Indian Telegraph Act, of 1885, the Wireless Telegraphy Act (1933), and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act (1950).

Post this, the bill be up for discussion and passing in the Rajya Sabha.

A quick read-through of the draft shows that the bill, when it gets enacted into law, will bring sweeping regulatory changes, such as an authorisation regime, clarity on the assignment of satellite spectrum and so on.

For instance, in ITB 2023, the government has paved the way for the allocation of satellite spectrum, as opposed to the auction.

Secondly, through the bill, the central government will be empowered to establish rules for the protection and assurance of cybersecurity in telecommunication networks and services.

The new version of the bill includes a provision mandating biometric identification by telecom companies (telcos) before issuing SIM cards to consumers.

The bill, like the ones that it is going to supersede, also gives wide-ranging surveillance powers to the government.

The ITB, 2023, gives power to the government to intercept “any message or class of messages to or from any person or class of persons”, and “disclose in intelligible format” to officers concerned in the cases of public emergency, in the interest of public safety and so on.

The bill also addresses the concept of "trusted sources" in the context of national security and protection.