DOT OSP Licence

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) Other Service Provider (OSP) Licence regime was created in 2008 under the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 to govern enterprises that use telecom infrastructure — leased lines, IPLC, MPLS-VPN, internet bandwidth — to provide voice or data-based services such as BPO / KPO, call centres, customer-support contact centres, tele-marketing, tele-medicine, e-commerce voice-support, network operating centres, and IT-enabled services (ITeS). For more than a decade the OSP regime carried heavy operational restrictions — physical-security bonds, equipment-co-location requirements, prohibition on work-from-home, separate licences for domestic vs international operations, restrictions on EPABX sharing, prior approval for any new resource — which made India's BPO industry compliance-heavy compared with global peers.

This was overhauled in November 2020 when the Ministry of Communications issued the New OSP Guidelines 2020 — a sweeping deregulation that removed the registration requirement for most categories, replaced it with a simple self-declaration on the Saral Sanchar portal, eliminated the bank-guarantee / security-deposit obligation, permitted work-from-home and work-from-anywhere natively, allowed sharing of EPABX between domestic and international OSPs, removed periodic reporting in most cases, and harmonised the regime for both Domestic OSP (services to subscribers in India) and International OSP (services to overseas subscribers, mainly export-BPO). Subsequent reforms in 2021-2023 refined definitions, eased interconnection of OSP centres, and clarified the work-from-home framework. By 2026, OSP compliance is one of the lightest licensing regimes in the Indian regulatory landscape — but it still has to be done correctly, particularly for centres that handle international voice traffic, sensitive client data, or operate under client / regulator audit obligations (PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2).

The Saral Sanchar portal at saralsanchar.gov.in is now the single window for OSP registration / self-declaration, modifications, and (where still applicable) periodic reports. We file the OSP self-declaration cleanly, document the network architecture and EPABX configuration, draft the SLA framework with telecom service providers (TSPs) so equipment-compliance and lawful-interception obligations are not silently breached, and align internal SOPs with the DoT 2020 / 2023 framework for the centre to operate without the legacy restrictions.

Who Needs OSP Compliance in the Post-2020 Regime

• Domestic OSP:: Indian-customer-facing call centres, BPO / KPO contact centres, customer-support operations, tele-marketing, tele-banking, tele-medicine, e-commerce voice support, helpdesks. Any centre using telecom resources from a TSP for voice / data services to subscribers in India.

• International OSP:: Export-BPO, voice-process for overseas clients (US / UK / Australia), tele-medicine to overseas patients, off-shored back-office and customer-support — using telecom resources for voice services to overseas subscribers. The most common configuration in India's IT/ITeS export sector.

• Hybrid OSP:: Centres serving both domestic and international subscribers from the same physical centre. Permitted under the 2020 guidelines with shared EPABX and shared network resources, subject to logical separation.

• Pure ITeS Without Voice / Data Telecom Resources:: Pure software development, web design, data-entry that does not interconnect to public telecom networks may not require OSP registration at all under the 2020 framework — eligibility check is the first step.

What the 2020 Reform Actually Removed

Removed: Bank guarantee / security deposit; periodic reports for most categories; physical inspection requirement; prohibition on EPABX sharing between domestic and international OSPs; restrictions on Work-From-Home / Work-From-Anywhere; prior approval for additional centres / resources; the rigid OSP-Centre vs OSP-Resource distinction.

Retained: Self-declaration / registration on Saral Sanchar; obligation to use telecom resources from licensed TSPs only; lawful-interception cooperation and security obligations under the Telegraph Act; data-protection obligations under DPDP 2023; equipment-compliance certification (TEC).

Where Centres Still Get It Wrong

Operating without Saral Sanchar self-declaration where required; using unlicensed bandwidth providers / unauthorised VoIP gateways; bypassing TSPs through grey-route international voice; non-cooperation with lawful interception requests; data-localisation breach; missing TEC equipment compliance for imported telephony hardware; inadequate logical separation in hybrid centres; SLA gaps with TSPs that leave the OSP exposed in audits. These are the modern compliance points — not the legacy paperwork that the 2020 reform removed.