DoT Tightens Noose On Unused Transmitters, Issues Post Licence Disposal Playbook

India's airwaves are tightly policed, but until this month no one had told licence-holders what to do with the physical boxes once the permission expires. On 15 October 2025 the ministry of communication, department of telecommunications ended the ambiguity, issuing a guideline that starts its stop-watch the very day a Wireless Operating Licence experimental, demonstration or plain WOL expires for any reason. The order, signed by Assistant Wireless Adviser, is short, stern and backed by the threat of "wilful-violation" prosecutions under the Indian Telegraphy Act.

The guidelines open by a reference to an earlier office memorandum of 27 July 2023 had hinted that equipment accountability would be tightened, but left the "how" to imagination. The new text fills every gap. It applies to every entity, private or public, that possesses radiating hardware under licences issued by WPC headquarters, any Regional Licensing Office or the Wireless Monitoring Organisation.