Indian government notified “Indian Telegraph Right of Way (Amendment) Rules, 2021” on October 22, 2021, for incorporating provisions related to nominal one-time compensation.

Highlights

• The rules also seek to incorporate “uniform procedure for establishing overground telegraph line in Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016”.
• Rules have also fixed the amount of one-time compensation for establishing overground telegraph line will at a maximum of Rs 1,000 per km.
• Documentation for Right of Ways (RoW) application for overground telegraph line has also been made simple.
• Earlier, RoW Rules were only covering underground optical fibre cable (OFC) and mobile towers.
• As per notification, there will not be any other fee other than administrative fee and restoration charges to establish, maintain, repair, work, repair, shift or transfer the underground and overground telegraph infrastructure.

How has it eased permission procedures?

These amendments will ease permission procedure related to RoW for establishing and augmenting digital communications infrastructure in India. With a robust pan India digital infrastructure, new rules will also help in bridging the digital divide between rich & poor and rural & urban areas.