NEW DELHI: The telecom regulator on Wednesday floated a consultation paper to determine whether zero-rating plans and bundling of certain data free or at a discounted rate by telecom service providers is discriminatory, anti-competitive, predatory and misleading.In a nut shell, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ( Trai ) is attempting to once again address the question of net neutrality and exploring whether zero-rating plans and schemes such as Facebook’s ‘Internet.org’ are in violation of the principle of net neutrality, without making a direct mention of it.The ‘consultation paper on differential pricing for data services’ has sought comments latest by December 30 and counter comments by January 7. Trai pointed out that telecom service providers are coming up with various plans offering discounted tariffs to content of certain websites.A zero-rating plan effectively means that content providers of a website will pay the telecom service provider, say Airtel, a charge so that the subscriber may browse the website free of charge. Bharti Airtel had launched a zero-rating tariff plan in April this year but withdrew it after severe criticism on social media.Facebook’s ‘Internet.org’ allows access to certain websites — and not just Facebook — without mobile data charges. In India, Facebook has so far tied up with Reliance Communications. “The objective…is claimed to be the desire of service providers…to enable the poor to access certain content on the Internet for free,” the paper said.It, however, also pointed out that such a move would enable a service provider to select the providers whose content it wants to offer at discounted rates. Trai’s latest paper comes half-a-year after the regulator had floated a consultation paper on whether over-thetop (OTT) players should be regulated.Nothing moved on the paper after the regulator sought comments from stakeholders. Meanwhile, a department of telecommunications ( DoT ) committee submitted its report on the matter. It has opposed both these plans.Trai has proposed an alternative model under which a content provider, say Facebook, could promote access by reimbursing the cost of browsing its website on a mobile phone irrespective of which telecom service provider a subscriber has used.This would mean the content provider, say Facebook, would reimburse the browsing charges to all its users who access the website on any telecom service provider’s network and not just one.It has also suggested models for promoting mobile Internet, such as the telecom service providers providing some amount of initial data for free to a subscriber without limiting it to any particular content or websites.“Current examples of this approach include allowing of free browsing or discounted tariffs for specified windows,” the consultation paper said.The consultation paper came on a day Communications & IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told Parliament that the government will take a final view on the issue of net neutrality after Trai submits its recommendations.Listing out disadvantages of such plans, the Trai paper said, “It may result in making the entry of certain websites through the pipes of telecom service providers more difficult.”The paper further argued that such differential tariffs disadvantage the small content providers, if the telecom service providers are already providing substitutes to latter’s website/content for free or at discounted rates.It said such ‘gatekeeping function’ might lead to the telecom service providers promoting their own websites/apps/services by giving lower rates for accessing them.“This may be perceived to be anti-competitive move…leaving ultimate power in the hands of the telecom service providers,” the paper said.The DoT panel on net neutrality had 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 prioritisation’ which creates discrimination.It had even suggested that the government incorporate these guidelines in the permits it issues to Internet service providers and telecom service providers.