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NEW DELHI: The government has decided to look into Bharti Airtel ’s controversial ‘Airtel Zero’ plan, which is seen to be violating net neutrality as it grants preferential treatment for websites that pay for it.The department of telecom ( DoT ) has taken cognizance of reports on Airtel ’s plan and is keeping a “close watch” on developments around it, official sources told TOI. “DoT is looking into finer details and whether it goes against the spirit of net neutrality,” a top official source told TOI here.The inspection by the DoT comes at a time when an official committee of the ministry is also looking into the whole issue of net neutrality. The DoT committee’s study runs parallel to telecom regulator Trai ’s consultation on over-the-top (OTT) applications, which are basically the fast-growing social media and other internet services that ride the infrastructure of telecom operators to reach mobile consumers.The sources said ‘Airtel Zero’ plan will also be viewed in the light of the telecom major’s previous attempt (in December last year) where it had tried to charge higher tariff for internet telephony players such as Viber, WhatsApp, Skype and Line. Airtel had then been forced to withdraw the plan after it faced criticism on social media platforms and rival telecom companies such as Vodafone and Idea Cellular refused to follow suit.The sources, however, said the government may not take any immediate decision over Airtel’s plan till the time the DoT committee comes up with a concrete plan to regulate OTT services. Also, Trai’s recommendations will be looked into before any action, a source said.Airtel Zero aims to offer free consumer browsing and special promotional campaigns for companies, which subscribe to the plan. Airtel officials said it is “non-discriminatory” and does not offer any undue preference to one set of companies over others.The growing clamour over the move has seen reactions from a section of Parliamentarians, such as Tathagata Satpathy and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who have voiced support for the maintenance of net neutrality, which seeks to provide similar treatment for all services on the net. Satpathy, a member of BJD, said any move to charge for internet services would hamper the government’s ambitious ‘Digital India’ and smart city programmes. Chandrasekhar, an independent Rajya Sabha member, has tweeted, “#NetNeutrality ensures non-discriminatory access to services to all consumers, and is core to #DigitalIndia”.>>> @toi_tech >>> TOI_tech