The net neutrality debate in India goes back to December 2014 when Airtel decided to charge separately for Internet-based calls but withdrew the plan later after facing protest.

Hundreds of startups including bigger players like, Zomato, Cleartrip, Paytm and their employees on January 25 approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defend net neutrality, which they define it as access to content on Internet without any discrimination.

“We urge you to ensure that the recently announced initiative, Start Up India, addresses the concern of Net Neutrality, with clearly defined policies and firm rules”, the letter said.

Around 500 people have signed the letter including Zomato Founder Deepinder Goyal, Cleartrip Founder Hrush Bhatt, XYSEC LABS Founder Subho Halder, iSPIRT Foundation Co-Founder Sharad Sharma and Paytm Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

There are 1,467 signatories to the letter, including 681 founders of various startups. Startups expressed gratitude to Modi for government’s initiatives, particularly programmes like Digital India and Start Up India and on improving the ease of doing business.

“In the wake of the important messages made by you on helping drive forward a Startup India, and on the eve of the Republic Day celebration of our nation’s commitment to democracy, we are writing to you seeking your continued support for Net Neutrality”, the letter said.

It said the open nature of the Internet allows every individual, whether online or likely to get connected to it in its current form to be a creator and innovator by their own free will and choice.

“Any violation of Net Neutrality will invariably deny our populace and even the world the opportunity to have unbiased access to the solutions that our talented entrepreneurs are devising,” the letter said. Startups have reached out to Prime Minister close on the heels of telecom regulator TRAI gearing to firm up its views on framework for differential pricing of data services.

 Source: Hindustan Times

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