On Wednesday, the Central Government sent information to the Supreme Court that they would soon push in regulations on the OTT (Over the Top) services like WhatsApp, Facebook, Skype, WeChat and also Google Talk. These regulations will be similar to the ones that all the telecom companies follow.
The Department of telecom felt that the applications use telecom service providers in order to reach customers. Like network providers, OTT services as well, provide instant messaging and video and voice calling. But these applications do not have any proper regulations set upon the usage. Karmanya Singh Sareen filed a petition in the SC questioning the safety of this applications. She questioned, “OTT services are governed in some respect by the provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000 and are not subject to the same regulatory mechanism that is enforced on conventional voice and messaging services provided by telecom service providers.”
As security was a high concern, and the petitioner had a strong argument along with Centre agreeing to it, the Court put forward this issue to a five judge bench. This has been opposed by the OTT service providers, but the hearing is fixed for April 18 and they will decide the final disposal dates to summer vacations.
