Regulatory and Compliance Support
Introduction
Regulation in the technology, media, and telecommunications sectors is not a single body of law but several operating at once — licensing conditions, sectoral directions, technical certification, content obligations, data protection, and consumer requirements, each administered by a different authority and each capable of stopping a launch on its own. Our Regulatory & Compliance practice advises clients on securing the authorisations a business needs, on building the compliance architecture that holds once it is operating, and on responding when a regulator asks. We act across telecommunications, NewSpace and satellite communications, fintech, digital media, gaming, and ad-tech. Much of our value lies in identifying, early, which regulator's position actually governs a proposed activity — a question that is frequently contested and rarely answered by any single instrument.
Our Experience
We advise on licensing and authorisation across the sectors we serve: registrations and authorisations under the Telecommunications Act framework and the licence categories preceding it, spectrum assignment and equipment approvals through the WPC wing, and equipment certification including MTCTE, BIS registration, and the trusted-source requirements applicable to network equipment. In the space sector we advise on IN-SPACe authorisation under the Indian Space Policy and the associated norms, guidelines, and procedures, covering satellite operations, ground segment and ground-station-as-a-service, landing rights, and constellation and launch-related authorisations. In fintech we advise on Reserve Bank of India authorisation for payment aggregators and prepaid payment instrument issuers, on NBFC registration, and on participation in the UPI and NPCI frameworks. In media we advise on uplinking and downlinking permissions and the registration and compliance obligations administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Authorisation is the beginning rather than the end. We build the compliance frameworks that licence conditions and sectoral directions require: policies, internal escalation and reporting lines, audit and record-keeping obligations, and the periodic returns and filings a regulated entity owes. This includes compliance under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and its rules, including notice and consent architecture, breach notification, and the additional obligations attaching to significant data fiduciaries; CERT-In directions on incident reporting and log retention; the telecom cyber security requirements applicable to licensees; the RBI directions on outsourcing, IT governance, digital lending, and KYC; and the due diligence and grievance redressal obligations that the Information Technology Rules impose on intermediaries and publishers. Where an obligation is ambiguous — as several currently are — we advise on a defensible position and document the reasoning, so that the client's conduct can be explained later.
We also advise on the regulation of what a business says and shows to users: content obligations and self-regulatory codes applicable to digital media and streaming services, advertising and endorsement requirements including influencer disclosure, the Central Consumer Protection Authority's guidelines on misleading advertisements and dark patterns, the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, legal metrology requirements for goods sold online, and the accessibility, age-assurance, and child-protection expectations increasingly attaching to consumer-facing products. In gaming, we advise on the regulatory position applicable to a proposed format and on the operational consequences that follow from how it is characterised.
Finally, we appear for clients before the regulator. We prepare and file applications and supporting documentation across ministries and agencies, and we respond to queries, inspections, audits, show cause notices, and enforcement action, including at the appellate stage. We prepare submissions to consultation processes conducted by the sectoral regulators and to draft legislation and rules, and we advise industry associations and coalitions on collective positions — work that gives us early visibility of where a regulatory position is moving, which is frequently more useful to a client than the position as it currently stands.
Select Mandates
-Advised a global satellite communication service provider with a wide variety of issues emanating from telecommunications regulations and their application lifecycle
-Supported one of the largest global satellite capacity providers in navigating the Norms, Guidelines and Procedures for Implementation of the Indian Space Policy 2023, and securing authorisations from IN-SPACe.
-Advised a leading satellite operator on obtaining a regulatory clearance from WPC, DGFT and other regulatory bodies for import of mission critical satcom equipment in India.
-Advised a global gaming company in launching a new platform for micro-drama in India, upon asssessment of the regulatory framework for digital media in India.
-Advised a leading online gaming platform on game classification and compliance requirements, ensuring regulatory alignment across its suite of games.
-Advised a leading e-commerce entity on marketplace compliance, product labelling and allied regulatory obligations under consumer protection regulations.
-Provide day to day compliance and regulatory support to production houses, media companies for content regulation, licensing, and approvals from the MIB, on a consistent basis.