New Delhi: Mobile commerce firm Paytm has asked Trai to allow cash backs instead of free data to promote apps and websites. Paytm in a communication to Trai said that incentives to promote usage of internet are welcome. However, it said they should not directly or indirectly violate one of the core principles of net neutrality, which is “the cost of access must be the same for all sites: there must be no discriminatory pricing for data services.”
In May, Trai had come out with a new consultation paper to look at ways to provide consumers free internet service within the net neutrality framework. The telecom regulator had said that there was a need to have a telecom operator agnostic platform which can facilitate app developer to promote their website by providing some incentive to user for accessing their websites. It had proposed various models to do so including a telecom service provider agnostic platform where consumers are directly paid for data consumed in accessing the website “in the form of a recharge for data usage or for voice usage to the user.”
However, Paytm said that telecom service providers (TSPs) have an undue advantage compared to others if award is provided in the form of free data. It said that award in the form of free data can be used to replicate the effect of zero cost of access for selected sites, an outcome that is against the principle of net neutrality. It argued that if free data is given as reward to consumers then TSPs will be able to promote their apps and websites as they are producer of data and hence incur a very low incremental cost. While other apps which are not from telecom operators will need to purchase data from telecom companies which will “definitely cost much more than” the incremental cost incurr-ed by a telecom company.
“We believe that reward should be given in a neutral currency and free data is not a neutral currency. We wish to propose cash as an incentive mechanism because it is the most neutral currency,” said Paytm.
