Definition of DOT OSP:
According to Department of Telecommunication (DOT), Other Service Providers (OSP) refers to the companies providing services in the tele-communication Industry with use of telecom resources. OSP includes call centres and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). OSP providing the application services within national boundaries is known as Domestic OSP. Whereas, OSP providing application services beyond national boundaries is known as International OSP.
Under the Telecom Policy, it is compulsory for the OSPs using telecom resources to obtain the DOT OSP License. Terms and conditions of OSPs are very strict. OSP’s are not allowed to use switched telephony and authorised Telecom Service Providers are only allowed to provide telecom resources to the OSP’s.
REGISTRATION OF OSP UNDER DOT
Only a Private Limited Company is eligible to apply for OSP license. With the application Form, the following documents are required:-
a. Certificate of Incorporation, MOA & AOA of the company
b. PAN card of the Company
c. List of Directors on the letterhead of the company
d. Shareholding pattern on the letterhead of the company
e. Master Data of MCA on the letterhead of the company
f. Description of the proposed activities
g. Network Diagram showing the entire connectivity of the telecom resources
h. Board Resolution authorizing the authorized signatory. PAN & DSC of the Authorised signatory will be required.
i. Rs. 1,000/- Govt. Fees
FEW IMPORTANT POINTS REGARDING OSP
- OSP License is valid for 20 years from the date of issue of the license. It can be further extended up to 10 years each time it is renewed.
- Annual Return is to be submitted to the DOT office within 6 months from the completion of the financial year mentioning the activities undertaken in the previous year and present status of the OSP in continuing its operations.
- An OSP License is given premises wise to the company. If the OSP registration for one location is already there, then OSP can apply for another location providing the OSP license of the obtained location along with other required documents.
- Transferability of OSP registration from one Company to another is prohibited.
- Non submission of annual return by the OSPs for the consecutive 3 years will take the company to the dormant list maintained by DOT and if the name continues to be there in the dormant list for another 2 years then their registration will be cancelled. Dormant and cancelled list is available in the DOT website.
COMPLIANCES TO BE DONE BY OSP
Receiving an OSP license is just the first step to start with the business. A lot of telecommunication resources gets consumed while running a running a BPO/call centre. There are lot of rules and regulations formulated by DOT to ensure that the resources are not mis-utilised and no fraudulent activities are carried on by the companies with the use of these resources. By submission of the required returns/information the companies inform the DOT that all the guidelines are well adhered with.
Two types of DOT Compliances are:-
a. Event Based Compliance
b. Annual Compliance
Event-based Compliance: These compliance needs to be done only on occurrence of certain major events in the company:-
- Change of operating Location of the company
- Change of directorship in the company
- Change in coverage, infrastructure and connectivity of the company
The compliance needs to be filed within 15 days of occurrence of any of the above events.
Annual Compliance: Annual Return needs to be filed within 6 months from the end of the financial year. It contains the following information:-
a. Name of the OSP: Name of the company/Brand name given to the centre
b. OSP Centre: Type of OSP Centre - Domestic/International
c. Financial Year: The year for which the return is being filed
d. OSP Registration Number: The registration number received with the OSP license
e. Registered Office address: Address of the registered office of the company
f. CIN of the company: Company Identification Number provided by MCA
g. CIN of the holding company: Applicable if the company is a subsidiary of another company
h. Employee details: Categorization wise details is required:-
i. Agents
ii. Managerial
iii. Others
i. Name of the clients with their location: Clientele details are required here
j. Annual Turnover: Annual turnover for the financial year w.r.t. OSP business
k. Net profit/ Net loss: Gains/Loss of the financial year needs to be reported