Bharti Airtel’s Vittal flags rising regulatory overreach, seeks balance in digital trust framework

India Mobile Congress 2025

Bharti Airtel's managing director and vice chairman, Gopal Vittal, on Wednesday raised concerns about increasing regulatory overreach in the telecom sector despite its limited role in areas such as digital trust and security.

Speaking at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2025, Vittal said telecom operators are being disproportionately burdened with compliance requirements compared to other players in the digital ecosystem. He reiterated the need for tariff corrections and said Airtel is also exploring new revenue streams.

“Most regulators globally, not just in India, are focused on the telecom sector, which represents a small part of the surface area of problems around trust and security,” Vittal said. “Technology is evolving faster than regulation. Regulators still focus narrowly on telecom, while the bigger trust and security challenges lie across the wider digital ecosystem.”

Vittal’s comments come at a time when over-the-top (OTT) communication apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram remain largely outside regulatory oversight — a long-standing concern for telecom operators who argue that uneven rules distort competition and weaken user protection.

Earlier this year, Vittal had urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to bring OTT communication services under its purview to curb spam and fraudulent activity. “While regulation has significantly reduced spam and unsolicited commercial communication over SMS and voice, bad actors are increasingly shifting to OTT platforms where oversight remains limited,” he had written to Trai chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti in March.

The issue was subsequently discussed at a Trai-led meeting of the Joint Committee of Regulators in April, where the IT ministry said it would work with stakeholders to address scams and spam on OTT and RCS (Rich Communication Service) platforms.

In September 2024, Airtel launched India’s first network-based, AI-powered spam detection system, alerting users in real time to suspected spam calls and SMSes. The company said it has identified over 48 billion spam calls and blocked 320,000 fraudulent links in the past year.

“India has solved the problem of connectivity. The next challenge is safeguarding users and strengthening institutional collaboration,” Vittal said. He called for global cooperation, proposing a dedicated institution such as a “fraud bureau” to combat scams and restore public trust.

Citing a recent case of an elderly person losing his life savings to online fraud, Vittal said, “Globally, over a trillion dollars is lost every year to digital fraud. Trust is now a fundamental issue. No company can solve this alone — the entire ecosystem must come together.”

Government calls for ‘responsible regulation’

Responding to Vittal’s concerns, Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said the government remains committed to regulations that protect users without stifling innovation.

“Every futuristic technology — semiconductors, quantum computing, AI, and 6G — is being developed in mission mode with clear objectives and dedicated funding,” he said. “Our focus is on responsible AI — ensuring transparency in how algorithms work, because much of what happens in AI is invisible.”

The minister acknowledged that while India has a robust regulatory foundation, rapid technological change demands faster adaptation. “We must promote innovation and regulate simultaneously,” he said, adding that the government is exploring ways to use anonymized data sets for AI research responsibly.

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Tariffs and market dynamics
Vittal also reiterated the need for higher tariffs to sustain industry investments, noting that Indian operators continue to operate with among the lowest average revenues per user (ARPUs) and data rates globally.

Airtel’s ARPU stood at Rs 250 at the end of June with a subscriber base of 362.8 million, compared to Reliance Jio’s Rs 208.8 from 498.1 million users. “There’s still headroom for pricing to go up,” Vittal said.

The company is also expanding its enterprise offerings. In August, Airtel launched its sovereign cloud service amid rising enterprise demand for secure data management.

Both Vittal and Chandra Sekhar agreed that India’s next leap — from digital inclusion to digital integrity — will depend on shared accountability, faster policy evolution, and a new compact between industry, innovators, and regulators to keep trust at the center of the digital era.