The government of India has notified the Telecommunication (Authorisation for Provision of Major Telecom Services) Rules, 2026, overhauling the existing contractual licence-based regulatory framework for the telecom industry in favour of a new unilateral statutory model, despite industry demands to retain the current regime.
The new framework allows the government to unilaterally grant authorisation to telecom operators once eligibility requirements, terms and conditions are met. This marks a departure from the existing model, under which a unified licence is executed as a formal, bilateral agreement between the operator and the telecom department, and any unilateral modification by the government could be challenged in courts or tribunals as a contractual dispute.
Under the new rules, future orders, directions or guidelines issued by the government to telecom operators will form part of the terms and conditions applicable to authorised entities. The concept of contractual breach has been removed altogether, meaning any violation of these conditions will now be treated as a statutory breach of the Telecommunications Act rather than a breach of contract.
Non-compliance will be handled internally through an adjudicating officer and an appeals committee, with telecom operators able to escalate disputes to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal if aggrieved by the internal committee’s decisions.
During the consultation process, telecom operators had opposed the shift to this model, arguing that the loss of contractual rights introduces uncertainty and could affect existing investments. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has clarified that operators may continue under the existing licensing framework until their current licences expire, with the new authorisation mechanism applying at the time of renewal.
The rules also clarify the government’s definition of adjusted gross revenue, explicitly excluding non-telecom revenues from the calculation.