New Telecom Bill aims protection of users from cyber fraud says Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw today on September 23, said the new Telecom Bill aims to protect users from cyber fraud and the focus behind the Bill is the protection of users.

Interacting with media on Draft Telecom Bill in New Delhi, Mr. Vaishnaw said extensive consultations were held for drafting the Bill and a detailed study of global best practices was done. He said that after these robust consultations, the Bill has been presented for further consultations. He said the Bill has been drafted with simple language and obsolete provisions have been removed.

The Minister highlighted that users will be protected from unsolicited calls and the identity of users will be visible to the receiver. He pointed out that telecom is the entry point of the entire digital economy and it is an important pillar of entire economic growth. Mr. Vaishnaw added that there are 117 crore subscribers to the telecom services and the telecom sector gives employment to 4 million people.

The Minister also said that spectrum is a public good and the focus is on the effective use of spectrum. He said spectrum assignment should be made only through auction, except in certain categories of government and public functions like defence.