Six Services,
One Regime

All Insights

This guide walks through what the Rules cover, who can apply, what it costs, and the obligations that come attached. It also flags the points that matter most if you operate, or plan to operate, any of these services in India.

What the Rules Cover

The Rules consolidate six distinct services under a single procedural framework. Rule 4 lists them, and each gets its own detailed Part in Chapter VI. Three of these services, namely M2M, PM Wi-Fi and IFMC, were previously handled through assorted registrations, guidelines and ad-hoc permissions. Bringing them under one rule-based authorisation regime is the headline structural change.

From Licenses to Authorisations: What Actually Changes

The shift is more than terminology. Under the new regime, authorisations are granted on a non-exclusive basis with no cap on the number of entities that may hold them (Rule 7). The government may keep granting authorisations for the same service in the same circle indefinitely, a deliberately open, registration-like posture.

A second structural point: grant of an authorisation confers no right to spectrum. Spectrum, where needed, is assigned separately under applicable law (Rule 7(5)), and the Rules are explicit that holding an authorisation creates no entitlement to it.

Legacy applicants are not left stranded. Pending applications or letters of intent under the 1885 Act lapse if a license was not issued before commencement, but any processing fees, entry fees or bank guarantees already furnished can be adjusted towards the new requirements (Rule 6).

The government may keep granting authorisations for the same service in the same circle indefinitely, a registration-like posture.

Who Can Apply

The default eligibility under Rule 5 is the familiar one: the applicant must be a company, with any FDI in conformity with government policy, a sound management track record, and no pending dues.

The significant exception is Machine-to-Machine. For M2M authorisations, the door opens much wider. Eligible applicants include LLPs, sole proprietorships, partnership firms, trusts, co-operative societies and societies, Central and State government departments, legislative bodies, courts, and other government-controlled entities. This reflects the reality that M2M deployments often sit with system integrators, industrial users and public bodies rather than conventional telcos.

Grant Process and Timelines

• Applications are made entirely on a government portal, with a non-refundable processing fee and an auditor's certificate confirming eligibility.
• The Central Government may issue a Letter of Intent setting out the entry fee, guarantee and a relinquishment undertaking, and then grant the authorisation specifying its scope, service area, duration and effective date, or it may reject the application.
• Notably, IFMC, M2M and PM Wi-Fi authorisations are granted without any Letter of Intent, a genuine fast-track for these three services.
• Any overlapping license or authorisation must be relinquished. An entity cannot hold both an old license and the new authorisation for the same scope.

Authorisations run for a maximum of 20 years, renewable for up to a further 20 years on an application filed at least 12 months before expiry (Rules 9 and 13). Transfer is permitted only with prior written approval and only pursuant to a merger, demerger, acquisition or restructuring (Rule 12).

Fees and Financial Commitments

The fee structure is where the policy intent is clearest. The revenue-bearing services carry an AGR-linked fee, while the rest are nominal or free.

AGR is Adjusted Gross Revenue. The annual authorisation fee for PMRTS and ECS is 8% of AGR; for IFMC and ADCS it is a token ₹1 per year, paid in advance for the full term. Schedule A sets the processing, entry and guarantee amounts and remains the controlling source for every value.

For PMRTS and ECS, the 8% AGR fee is inclusive of a Digital Bharat Nidhi contribution equal to five-eighths of the authorisation fee. Payments are quarterly. Late payment attracts interest at SBI's one-year MCLR plus 2%, compounded annually. The Rules contain detailed assessment provisions, with a four-year limitation period that extends to six years where ₹50 lakh or more is at stake.

Obligations Every Authorised Entity Carries

Data localisation and network location

• All data, logs and information associated with the telecommunication network must be stored within India, with no copies routed, shared or made available outside India (Rule 24).
• User information cannot be transferred to any person or place outside India (Rule 32), subject only to financial-disclosure carve-outs.
• Network systems must sit within the service area, though cloud-hosted networks, where authorised, may be located anywhere in India.
• Prior approval is required before building or expanding networks in security-sensitive areas.

Security and Indian control

• A majority of board directors must be Indian citizens, and the chief network officer, security and system administrators must be resident Indian citizens (Rule 30).
• Foreign nationals in Chairman, MD, CEO or CFO roles require MHA security vetting, renewed annually.
• Only trusted products from trusted sources may be deployed. The National Cyber Security Coordinator is the designated authority that determines the relevant equipment categories, approved sources and barred vendors (Rule 36).
• Operations and command logs must be retained for real-time access for 12 months and in digital form for a further 24 months (Rule 33), and lawful-interception obligations are preserved.

Reporting, conduct and continuity

• Annual auditor-certified reporting of Indian and foreign equity and control. Shareholding changes within 15 days, name changes within 30 days, and an India-based nodal person must be nominated (Rule 11).
• Admission of an insolvency application must be reported within 48 hours.
• Entities must bill in their own name, not discriminate between users, run a grievance-redressal mechanism, and indemnify the government against user claims (Rule 27).
• Revocation orders take effect on the 61st day with 48-hour public notice. Surrender takes effect on the 31st day after user notice, with all dues cleared and no refund of fees (Rules 14 and 15).

Service-Specific Highlights

Chapter VI layers service-specific conditions on top of the general framework, and prevails where the two conflict (Rule 39). A few points stand out for each service.

Enterprise Communication Service (ECS)

• Covers four sub-services: audio conferencing, audiotex, cloud-based EPABX (EPABX-as-a-Service / CPaaS) and voice mail.
• No bypass of national or international long-distance traffic is permitted. Audio conferencing is limited to point-to-point services for India-registered enterprises, with calls originating and terminating within India.
• Cloud EPABX providers must maintain logical partitioning between users and keep partitioning logs for two years.

Machine-to-Machine (M2M)

• No authorisation fee, broad eligibility, and use of assignment-exempt spectrum via WPAN and WLAN.
• Each M2M use case must be intimated to the government, which may direct discontinuation or impose additional security conditions.
• Devices must be identifiable and traceable through telecommunication identifiers, and an online supply-chain management system for M2M SIMs is required.

In-Flight & Maritime Connectivity (IFMC)

• Token ₹1 per year fee. Requires agreements with access-service holders across all 22 service areas, plus DA2G, NLD, VSAT or national internet-service providers.
• Satellite connectivity must use Indian satellite earth-station gateways. Aircraft modifications need DGCA approval under the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024.
• Internet on aircraft is permitted only in airplane mode, above a specified minimum height, with the pilot or captain retaining exclusive control to disconnect.
• An entity already authorised for access service across all 22 areas, or for national internet service, needs no separate IFMC authorisation.

PM Wi-Fi Access Network Interface

• No fee. Applies to Public Data Office Aggregators and / or App Providers under a Central Registry maintained by the government.
• User information is retained for two years, with data-privacy compliance obligations.

PMRTS and Aeronautical Data Communication (ADCS)

• Both carry a rollout obligation: at least one repeater station (PMRTS) or ground station (ADCS) within 12 months of spectrum assignment.
• PMRTS networks may not interconnect with other PMRTS networks. ADCS networks may not interconnect with PSTN, PLMN or internet telephony.

What This Means in Practice

For most of these services the compliance burden has been recalibrated, not removed. The fee economics are now sharply tiered: PMRTS and ECS operators face an 8% AGR regime with full assessment, guarantee and audit machinery, while M2M, PM Wi-Fi, IFMC and ADCS players enjoy near-zero fees and, in three cases, LoI-free entry. Set against that lighter touch is a firm security and localisation overlay. Indian board control, resident administrators, trusted-source procurement, mandatory in-country data storage and lawful-interception readiness apply across the board.

The practical questions for any prospective entrant are therefore less about whether they can get in, and more about structuring for it: confirming corporate eligibility, mapping the data-localisation and trusted-source requirements onto existing architecture, and, for licensees on the old regime, deciding whether and when to migrate. Existing players should also revisit whether overlapping licenses need to be relinquished, and how their financial guarantees carry over.

Sources & Further Reading

This brief is based on the notified Rules and the parent statute, including:

• Telecommunications (Authorisation for Provision of Miscellaneous Telecommunication Services) Rules, 2026, G.S.R. 512(E), Department of Telecommunications, notified 23 June 2026 and in force on publication
• The Telecommunications Act, 2023 (44 of 2023)
• Schedule A (processing, entry and guarantee amounts) and Schedule B (service areas) to the Rules
• The PM-WANI framework and the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, referenced in the IFMC and PM Wi-Fi conditions
• The Migration Rules, 2026, which govern the move from existing licenses onto these terms