No Plan To Bring Laws For Regulation Of OTT Platforms; Protection Of Citizens' Digital Rights: Central Govt In Lok Sabha [Read Statements]

Minister of State for IT, Sanjay Dhotre, informed the Lower House thus:

"It is not an opportune moment to recommend a comprehensive regulatory framework for various aspects of services referred to as OTT services, beyond the extant laws and regulations prescribed presently. The matter may be looked into afresh when more clarity emerges in international jurisdictions particularly the study undertaken by ITU."

DMK MP Velusamy P. had asked the Central Government if the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is working on recommendations for the Department of Telecommunications to regulate OTT service providers.

In response, Mr. Dhotre clarified that TRAI had issued a Consultation Paper regarding the 'Regulatory Framework for OTT Communication Service' in November, 2018. It also held two Open House Discussions for the stakeholders to submit their comments.

The recommendations in the matter were released by TRAI on Monday, intimating that no regulatory intervention was needed at the moment on issues related to privacy and security of over-the-top (OTT) communication services such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype, Viber etc.

No Regulations Needed Now For Over-the-Top(OTT) Communication Services Such As Facebook, Whatsapp: TRAI

The Government is also not planning to bring any new legislation for "Digital Rights" for people- centric governance of digital data, informed the Minister in response to another question raised by MP DM Kathir Anand.

However, he clarified that the any citizen aggrieved by breach of his data privacy may exercise legal recourse under Section 43A and Section 72A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, which provides for privacy and security of data in digital form.

Significantly, the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 for protection of personal data of individuals was introduced in Lok Sabha in December last year. The same was referred to the Standing Committee, was report is likely to be tabled in the Parliament in the upcoming week of the Monsoon Session.

Highlights Of The Personal Data Protection Bill 2019

Click Here To Download Statement [OTT Regulation]

Click Here To Download Statement [Digital Rights]