NEW DELHI: The DoT panel on net neutrality has batted for an open and unregulated regime for several over the top (OTT) services but proposed regulating local and national calls over VoIP apps such as WhatsApp and Skype , a move that would result in consumers paying for them, possibly making them as expensive as calls made on mobile.Referring to VoIP calls (Skype, WhatsApp, Google Chat) as OTT communication services, the panel’s 111-page report said, "there exists a regulatory arbitrage, wherein such services also bypass the existing licensing and regulatory regime creating a non-level playing field between telecom service providers and OTT providers".The committee has found that local and national calls made over the internet could be six times cheaper than that made over regular mobile networks and it has accepted a major demand of the telcos who have been calling for a level playing field with OTT voice apps. At the same time, it has recommended that messaging and international calls made through these apps should not be regulated, a proposal that will please WhatsApp and similar services.While the sixmember panel favours ‘regulatory oversight’ on OTT communication service providers, it has stated that for OTT application services ‘there is no case for prescribing regulatory oversight similar to communication services’.Nevertheless, there are concerns that regulatory oversight of OTT communication service providers creates a dangerous precedent for regulating digital services, especially as the licence regime of the past isn’t appropriate for the connected world of the future. "Regulating 'domestic voice services' looks like a compromise to manage operators' concerns. It's odd that there’s a distinction between domestic calling and international calling," said an industry executive.The government will formulate its final policy on net neutrality once the telecom regulator submits its recommendations.The Internet and Mobile Association of India while welcoming the committee’s stand on net neutrality said there was no need to further bring a licensing or revenue share arrangement between the OTTs and TSPs. "This will disrupt VoIP and will also skew any further innovation," the organization said in a statement.The DoT panel has has said no tariff plan which allows blocking, throttling and prioritisation of content should be permitted. But it has left it to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to decide whether any tariff plan, including the controversial zero rating plan, violates the principles of net neutrality. Controversially, it has proposed a ‘deemed approval clause’, if the regulator does not decide within reasonable period of time. Complaints on tariff plans will be dealt with on a case by case basis through an adjudicatory process to be specified by the regulator.The panel’s proposals on tariff plans have created the apprehension that it has allowed zero rating plans on a case by case basis and that they are skewed in favour of telcos while being against digital consumer services. For instance if a telco OTT service’s zero rating plan is not rejected, consumers will have to pay to access competing properties. This will reduce consumer choice, hurt competition, and give disproportionate control over the internet to telcos."The 'deemed approval' clause for a probable zero rating tariff plan in case the regulator doesn't object to it in a specified time is very faulty," says Antony Alex, founder CEO of myLaw.net, an online legal start-up."It allows the regulator to give a tacit go-ahead for a plan without putting it in writing. Tomorrow even if the plan does violate net neutrality, the regulator is absolved since it never really gave a go-ahead in writing," said Alex, adding it appears to be an 'escape route' for the regulator.The DoT report has come down heavily on Facebook’s initiative internet.org . It found that Facebook was playing the role of a ‘gatekeeper’ in determining which websites were in ‘the list’ and this was viewed as violating net neutrality". It added that such ‘collaborations’ between telecom operators (TSPs) and content providers that enable such gate-keeping role to be played by any entity should be actively discouraged.However, Kevin Martin, Vice-President for Mobile and Global Access Policy at Facebook in a statement defended his company’s global initiative saying internet. org acted as a ‘gateway’ and as opposed to a ‘gatekeeper’ to internet access by breaking down cost, infrastructure and social barriers.The telecoms department panel has defined the core principles of net neutrality as, ‘No blocking’ of any lawful content, ‘no degradation’ of internet traffic based on the content, application, services or end user and ‘no paid prioritization’ which creates discrimination. It has even suggested that the government incorporate these guidelines in the permits it issues to the internet service providers and the telecom service providers.