Telecom operators, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, have urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to bring popular messaging and calling apps like WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram under the new Telecommunication Act’s licensing framework.
The operators, backed by the industry body COAI, argue that these Over-The-Top (OTT) communication services should be regulated under the same authorisation as traditional telecom services. Airtel emphasized that the unregulated nature of these apps hampers law enforcement efforts and crime prevention.