Sir, TRAI has many people who are brilliant and have much more experienceNo  than I probably have on the concerned matter. It is very humble and polite of TRAI that it is considering the opinions of consumers on the matter.

I support net neutrality and I am totally against the additional charges for Over the Top Services.My decision to support net neutrality is not blind and is based on a simple and logical explanation.To understand it I would like to  give a simple real life example:

We all use Electricity provided by Reliance,TATA, Torrent, or the State Run Government Organisations, we pay according the tariff of electricity and the amount of electricity we consume.

Now in order to save electricity and its bill, the consumers started using LED bulbs instead of normal filament bulbs, they started using inverter A.C and BEE certified 5 star rated products.

The electricity provider increased its per unit charge for electricity so as to compensate, even though its revenue was not affected as the number of appliances consumer uses have increased as a part of convenience and life style. 

If the rise in per unit charge in electricity was not enough, the electricity provider proposed a new regulation to increase its profit.

The proposed regulation is to charge the consumer based on the appliances he/she is using in his/her house, for eg. if the consumer has A.C he will be charged extra for using A.C., if the consumer has Washing machine, he will be charged extra for it, besides the regular electricity bill he pays for per unit of electricity he/she consumes.

Sir, the question here is pretty simple, whatever the electricity provider is proposing for regulation is it fair? And to be honest any lame person will answer this with a straight no.

Because it simply is not fair, the charge the consumer who is already paying for the electricity unit he/she is consuming to pay more for the appliances he/she is running using that electricity.

Now in the case in front of us, the electricity provider is replaced by the telecom service provider and the home appliances are replaced by the Over the top services watsapp, google, facebook, etc. And the answer to this scenario is also simple. Its a not fair to charge for over the top services, the consumer is already paying for the internet he/she is using, there is no reason to pay extra for the over the top services.

Lets just say, I communicate a lot with 2 or 3 of my friends, so is it ok for the telecom service provider to charge me extra if i call or msg any of these 2-3 friends other than the regular tariff rates. The answer is no because I am already paying charges for the services I am using.

I would like to conclude here with a few final words:

Evolution of technology has brought a lot of the change in the way we communicate and do our day to day life activities. From sending letters through post office, to calling on phone and now a days making a video call through phone. Its all thanks to technology. Regulating these OTT will not only hit the consumers pocket but will also cause hinder in development of new apps with technological advancement.

A survey in India says most people who have not yet got access to internet will get the first access to internet through mobile. And a decision to regulate the OTT will make the internet service dearer and will eventually affect the internet penetration in India.

Internet is not only facebook, watsapp or google, it is a lot more than that, its a means of information gathering, learning, creating something, bringing transparency, and a lot lot more.

Hope I have said and my opinions will be considered in the matter.

Thanks and Regards

Rohit Mudgal