India shifts telecom licences to statutory authorisations

India replaced bilateral telecom licence contracts with unilateral statutory authorisations under the Telecommunications Act, 2023, according to a report published on 24 June 2025.

India's new telecom regulatory model uses statutory authorisations instead of the current unified licence structure. The report says this changes the legal basis of market access for telecom operators from a bilateral contract to a unilateral authorisation framework.

Under the current system, a unified licence is executed as a formal bilateral agreement between a telecom operator and India's Department of Telecommunications. The report says that under this contract model, any unilateral modification by the central government could be challenged in courts or tribunals as a contractual dispute.

The reported change is tied to the Telecommunications Act, 2023. The article describes the new framework as a unilateral statutory model for telecom regulation in India, replacing the earlier licence pact structure.