Draft Telecom Bill enhances unease of doing biz amid regulatory overlaps

Regulatory overlaps between multiple ministries and overreach by DoT worry stakeholders

The draft telecommunication Bill that was put up for comment last month has stakeholders worried about regulatory overlaps between multiple ministries and overreach by the department of telecommunications (DoT).
 

Whatever the description, stakeholders are deeply concerned that the draft law forces digital companies to re­­port to two ministries — DoT under the telecom min­istry, and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and, in some cases, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B). This state of affairs hardly enhances the government’s stated res­o­lve to improve the “ease of doing business” environ­ment. The fact that DoT and MeitY come under the