The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) deserves a prolonged round of applause for reiterating and upholding the principle of net neutrality. In its historic order of February 8, 2016, the regulator has ruled against “discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content.” The Monday order also stipulates a fine against the offender. With this ‘firman’, the raging debate on various aspects of net neutrality comes to an end, at least for now. The debate has been joined with considerable gusto by both sides of the divide; but the controversy is not going to be allowed to rest because of the formidable clout wielded by the affected players.
This order has been correctly hailed as a hefty blow to Facebook, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Jio. While there may be room for dissent from this order, the TRAI judgment is to be seen in a larger context. And, that context was and remains the capacity of the powerful corporate entities to dictate public policy in India. It would be recalled that it was only a few months ago the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, had allowed himself to be seen as performing a ‘jugalbandi’ with the Facebook functionaries, creating an impression that anyone with deep corporate pockets could rewrite Indian laws and rules.
The TRAI order is all the more remarkable and noteworthy because it is against the grain of the entrenched policy correctness. The mantra seems to be “the corporate India should get what it wants”. The telecom companies had appropriated the government’s proclaimed goal of a billion Internet connections and sought to steer that objective into their private corner. While there may be a cause of discomfort that a government should hold sway over telecom companies through an extensive licensing regime, it is decidedly dangerous to let those companies in turn determine how the citizens of a democratic India inform or express themselves. The telecom mogul, Zuckerberg, likes to point out that a billion Indians still don’t have access to the internet, but it is also a fact that many of those Indians do not have access to even sufficient food, healthcare or education, or even clean air and water. A desirable policy goal cannot be allowed to be hijacked for private profit. The TRAI has not only demonstrated its autonomy, but also perhaps underscored that India is not for sale.