A panel under the Department of Telecommunications has opposed projects such as Facebook’s Internet.org which allow access to certain websites without mobile data charges. At the same time, it has suggested that similar plans such as Airtel Zero be allowed with prior clearance from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. However, the panel has stated that collaborations between telecom operators and content providers that enable a gate-keeping role to be played by any entity should be discouraged.

The net neutrality debate gained centre stage in India when Airtel launched Airtel Zero, a service that allows free access to some websites on its network. A similar programme was launched by Facebook. These programmes were seen as violating the concept of net neutrality, which implies according equal access to all internet traffic.