DoT against regulation of OTT services, except local voice callsVia The Economic Times | Jul 02, 2015A telecom department report on net neutrality has recommended against regulating any over the top services or apps, but called for regulatory oversight on those offering local voice calls similar to mobile operators. A six-member internal committee of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in its report also suggested a new law incorporating principles of net neutrality to replace the Indian Telegraph Act. The committee favours regulatory oversight on the communication service providers, reads the report. The committee believes that for (other) OTT application services (including those offering messaging and international voice calls), there is no case for prescribing regulatory oversight similar to communication services, it said. The DoT panel pointed out that apps such as Viber and WhatsApp that offer local calling services over the internet don't have to follow regulations like mobile phone operators do, thus creating a non-level playing field between two providers of similar services. The government will take a decision on the policy around net neutrality after public consultation and the telecom regulator's recommendations on the subject.