Convergence bill likely to come up in current session

Neeraja Kumar & Vandana Gombar

New Delhi, April 14 : THE convergence bill is likely to be introduced during the current session of Parliament. “Everybody seems to be keen on it (in the current session). It seems likely. We are working towards it,” said Mr Fali Nariman, who heads the sub-group on convergence.

Meanwhile, at a meeting held here on Saturday, the Fali Nariman sub-group, incorporated the comments received from the public and corporates on the draft bill.

“We have completed our note. The bill is being redrafted and will be passed by the group on telecom and IT convergence (GoT-IT) when it meets early next week,” said Mr Nariman. However, he clarified that the GoT-IT meeting, which is slated for Monday next, would not discuss the bill. The meeting, which was supposed to be held on Saturday, but was postponed due to the untimely demise of Mr Dewang Mehta, is to thrash out the controversial limited mobility issue.

The issue was referred by the Prime Minister to the GoT-IT, headed by finance minister Yashawant Sinha, after allegations of foul play in awarding limited mobility licences to basic service providers. “After the GoT-IT approves the draft, it will go to the Cabinet for approval,” said Mr Nariman.

The bill seeks to set up a single super-regulator for the telecom, broadcast and the Internet sectors, to be called the Convergence Commission of India. The bill, once passed by Parliament, will replace a host of earlier legislations, including the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885, Cable Television Networks (regulation) Act of 1995 and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997. The extant telecom regulator will be subsumed by the proposed Convergence Commission, which will also be given the powers to issue various licences.