New Delhi: On Day 15 of the Parliament’s Winter Session, the Centre is likely to table the Telecommunications Bill 2023 in Lok Sabha on Monday. The Telecommunications Bill 2023 aims to replace the 138-year-old Indian Telegraph Act that governs the telecom sector. The Cabinet had cleared the bill in August. The draft Telecommunications Bill released in 2023 proposed to bring over-the-top or internet-based calling and messaging apps under the definition of telecommunications to enhance users’ safety.
The bill had also proposed to curb the power of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), on which industry players had raised concerns. The new bill proposes the government be vested with the power to waive off entry fees, licence fee, penalties etc. in the interest of consumers, ensuring competition in the market, availability or continuity of telecom networks, and national security.
As the Winter Session resumed at 11 am today, with discussions on the three reworked criminal law reform Bills in Lok Sabha on the cards, provided the Parliament gridlock ends. Congress MP and leader of the party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has now urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak in Parliament over the security breach issue, criticising him for taking “four days” to react to the incident.
Earlier on Sunday, Chowdhury had written to Speaker Om Birla, urging him to rescind the suspension of 13 Opposition members of the House. The MPs, he said, raised “very troubling issues” in the wake of the Parliament security breach and deserve a fair hearing.
The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha saw repeated adjournments on Thursday and Friday, as Opposition MPs demanded a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and a discussion on the security lapse in the Lok Sabha as well as the suspension of 14 Opposition MPs for the remaining Winter Session. Meanwhile, the suspended MPs staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue situated in Parliament premises.
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