Govt to finalise 50 DPRs in FY23 to boost port connectivity

TRAI Starts Digital Consent Pilot with RBI and Leading Banks

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has noted that many spam-related complaints from consumers are directed at businesses they have previously engaged with for goods or services. When investigated, these businesses often claim they hold the consumer’s consent for sending commercial messages or making calls.  Under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018, commercial communications can be made to consumers, even if they are on the Do Not Disturb (DND) list, as long as the sender has obtained explicit consent. However, in many ..

TRAI Caps PM-WANI Tariffs to Boost Affordable Public Wi-Fi

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has welcomed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) Telecommunication Tariff (71st Amendment) Order, 2025 (PR 46/2025), issued on 16 June 2025. This amendment mandates that all retail FTTH broadband plans up to 200 Mbps must be offered to Public Data Offices (PDOs) at prices not exceeding twice the consumer broadband rate. This ceiling is expected to significantly reduce the backhaul costs for public Wi-Fi hotspots—by as much as tenfold.  Introduced under the Prime Minister’s “Broadband for All” initiative, the PM-WANI ..

Coal Ministry Opens Bids for 12th Commercial Block Auction

The Nominated Authority under the Ministry of Coal has opened bids for the 12th round of commercial coal block auctions, excluding six underground coal blocks. The round attracted notable interest from participants, with bids submitted for 11 out of the 22 available blocks. The online bids were decrypted and accessed electronically in the presence of bidders. Following this, sealed envelopes containing physical bid documents were also opened in front of the participants. The entire procedure was displayed live on screen for complete transparency. In total, 41 bids—both online and offlin..