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Quarterly Newsletter Issue #14
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Dear Readers,
Greetings!
In this January-March 2026 edition of InnovTech@CUTS, we bring together a diverse set of research, policy engagement, and capacity-building initiatives addressing evolving challenges at the intersection of technology, regulation, and markets.
This quarter, our research focuses on digital regulation and user behaviour, particularly in the context of telecom authentication frameworks and online gaming restrictions. A nationwide study on SIM-binding requirements highlights significant usability and operational challenges for both consumers and small businesses, with concerns around accessibility, shared device usage, and increased authentication frictions.
Complementing this, a series of survey-based analyses across Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra reveal that restrictions on online gaming have not eliminated participation but instead redirected users towards offshore and less regulated platforms, raising concerns around consumer protection, fraud, and data security.
Beyond market behaviour, this quarter reflects our continued engagement with broader questions of AI governance and digital ecosystems. Through thought leadership and policy work, including contributions to discussions on generative AI and copyright, we emphasise the importance of adaptive and proportionate regulatory approaches that balance innovation with fairness and accountability.
Our outreach this quarter also includes the release of a book on AI governance, offering critical insights into market power, regulatory frameworks, and implications for the Global South. Additionally, we actively participated in key national and international forums on AI, cybersecurity, and digital infrastructure, alongside continued media engagement on emerging technology issues.
We hope you find this edition insightful and welcome your feedback and engagement.
Amol Kulkarni
Director (Research)
CUTS International
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Life, Work & Connectivity in the Era of SIM-Binding
Krishaank Jugiani
 In November 2025, the Department of Telecommunications issued new directions for OTT messaging platforms, introducing mandatory SIM-binding and periodic re-authentication requirements for web and desktop access. This study, based on responses from 4,200 consumers and small businesses across India, finds that while these measures aim to enhance security and support law enforcement, they may also introduce significant practical challenges.
Nearly 80 percent of users reported potential inconvenience due to multiple authentication-related frictions, including repeated logins, OTP requirements on secondary devices, and access issues when the primary SIM is unavailable. These challenges are likely to be more pronounced among working-age and higher-income users who depend heavily on web-based messaging for professional and educational purposes.
Additionally, with 86 percent of users sharing devices or SIMs – and in many cases lacking immediate access to the primary SIM – authentication delays and disruptions may be common. Among SMBs, where messaging platforms are deeply embedded in operations, 58-62 percent anticipate negative impacts, with more digitally integrated firms significantly more likely to expect disruption.
These findings underscore the need for a calibrated approach to implementation, including undertaking comprehensive impact assessments, piloting technical design choices, strengthening upstream safeguards such as SIM KYC, and exploring adaptive, risk-based authentication frameworks as proportionate alternatives.
Read the full report here
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Offshore Betting Access & Behavioural Shifts Post Gaming Bans
Sohom Banerjee and Pratyush Banerjee, January-March 2026
 This set of survey-based studies examines the impact of real-money online gaming bans across Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and multiple Indian states, focusing on user access to offshore betting platforms and resulting behavioural shifts.
Across all studies, findings show that a significant proportion of users continue to engage in betting and gaming activities despite regulatory restrictions. Users frequently bypass access barriers through technological workarounds such as VPNs, proxy servers, mirror websites, and alternative payment mechanisms, highlighting enforcement challenges in a digitally connected and cross-border environment.
The evidence consistently indicates that such bans lead to behavioural reallocation rather than cessation, with users shifting toward offshore betting platforms, informal channels, or less regulated applications. This transition increases exposure to risks such as fraud, data privacy breaches, and weak consumer protection. At the same time, user responses vary, with some reporting reduced participation based on awareness and risk perception.
A key concern across all studies is the uneven regulatory impact: compliant domestic platforms face stricter enforcement, while offshore operators remain relatively unaffected. This creates a distorted competitive landscape and limits effective regulatory oversight.
Overall, the findings suggest that while online gaming bans aim to curb gambling-related harms, their effectiveness is constrained by technological and jurisdictional limitations. The studies emphasise the need for a balanced and adaptive policy approach — combining enforcement with improved monitoring, consumer awareness, harm-reduction strategies, and international coordination — to ensure both effective regulation and enhanced user safety.
Read the Full Reports
• Tamil Nadu Study
• Maharashtra Study
• Multi-State Study |
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The book Governing Artificial Intelligence (AI): From Technological Breakthroughs to Global Regulations and Market Power’ authored by Sohom Banerjee, published by Bloomsbury, offers a rigorous examination of where power truly resides in the age of AI, and who ultimately bears its risks. It approaches AI not merely as a technological innovation, but as a form of political infrastructure, tracing how a concentrated set of firms, regulators, and geopolitical actors are embedding their interests across the AI value chain, from data and compute to standards and trade regimes.
With a strong focus on India and the Global South, the book challenges dominant Silicon Valley narratives, highlighting how reliance on “soft-law” approaches, regulatory arbitrage, and institutional capacity gaps may transform AI-driven optimism into a new form of dependency.
Rejecting both technological romanticism and minimalist regulatory approaches, the book argues that without enforceable constraints, robust transparency frameworks, and accountable institutions, AI risks exacerbating market concentration while subtly reshaping democratic oversight.
Moving beyond generic ethical guidelines, it advocates for a risk-based, sector-specific regulatory framework grounded in accountability, human-in-the-loop mechanisms, and enforceable rights. This makes it a compelling and at times provocative read for those who recognise that the true transformation driven by AI lies not just in technological capability, but in the quiet reconfiguration of power, markets, and governance.
Link: https://tinyurl.com/2m5kpmtc
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CUTS Daily Bulletins on AI Impact Summit 2026
New Delhi, India, February 16-20, 2026
This bulletin covers the main highlights from the AI Impact Summit 2026, organised under the Government of India’s IndiaAI Mission, held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, from February 16-20, 2026. The summit brought together global policymakers, industry leaders, researchers, and development partners to explore how AI can drive inclusive growth, strengthen public services, and deliver real-world impact across sectors.
CUTS Comments on the DPIIT Working Paper on Generative Artificial Intelligence and Copyright (Part I)
Sohom Banerjee, February 2026
CUTS International welcomes the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
(DPIIT)’s Working Paper on Generative Artificial Intelligence and Copyright (Part I) as a timely and substantive intervention in a rapidly evolving technological, economic, and legal landscape.
The Working Paper correctly recognises that generative AI is no longer peripheral to innovation
but is increasingly embedded across production processes, service delivery, market organisation, and everyday economic activity.
CUTS supports the objective of balancing innovation with the protection of human creativity, while emphasising that such balance must be grounded in legal coherence, economic proportionality, sound principles of market functioning and behavioural responses, institutional feasibility, and distributional equity, while avoiding regulatory approaches that risk overreach or unintended market distortions.
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Dark Patterns
Sohom Banerjee
All-India Management Association (AIMA), Indian Management, January 2026
SIM binding push raises more questions
Pradeep S Mehta
The Financial Express, January 04, 2026
The Strategic Role of the Northeast in India’s AI Journey
Sohom Banerjee
Northeast News, January 15, 2026
SIM binding mandate may cause operational disruptions for 80% of consumers, 60% SMBs: Study
ETTelecom, February 27, 2026
80% consumers, 60% SMBs expect disruption from mandatory SIM-binding rules
Communications Today, February 27, 2026
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How the RMG ban is reshaping India’s gaming and gambling landscape
ET Edge Insight, January 11, 2026
Google’s new initiative for startups spurs India’s AI sovereignty question
LiveMint, January 21, 2026
Why Amazon wants its sellers to create their own websites for free
LiveMint, January 26, 2026
Bloomsbury India releases book on AI policy, regulation, economic impact
India Blooms, February 22, 2026
After RMG ban, Indian state sees 83% move to offshore betting
SiGMA, February, 04 2026
Ghosted by the Bot: Why IndiaMART is Desperate to Be Visible on ChatGPT.
LiveMint, March 10, 2026
SIM Binding: नए नियम से 100 में से 80 लोगों को सकती है दिक्कत, 60% छोटे बिजनेस पर भी खतरा
Navbharat Times, March 01, 2026
Gaming Ban Drives Users To Offshore Platforms, Finds Study
BW Online Bureau, March 10, 2026
Delhi HC Orders Blocking Of Rogue Domains Offering Real Money Games Mimicking Dream11
MediaNama, March 6, 2026
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Capacity Building Quarter
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CIRC’s 1st Certificate Course on AI & Competition: Regulatory Perspectives
 The inaugural edition of CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition certificate course on AI and competition law examines the rapidly evolving interface between AI and market regulation.
Designed as a six-week programme (April 03-May 9, 2026), the course is currently ongoing and focuses on how AI-driven tools, such as algorithmic pricing, personalised recommendations, and automated decision-making are transforming competitive dynamics across sectors.
It addresses key concerns including algorithmic collusion, data-driven market power, transparency, and the implications of AI on consumer welfare, while situating these developments within existing competition law frameworks.
The course brings together regulators, practitioners, and researchers to foster practical, policy-oriented discussions on emerging challenges in AI-driven markets. With a focus on real-world examples from India and other jurisdictions, it aims to build institutional capacity and enhance understanding of regulatory and enforcement approaches. Overall, the programme underscores the need for adaptive, forward-looking competition frameworks to effectively respond to the growing influence of AI on market behaviour. |
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Sohom Banerjee presented his research paper titled Leveraging UX Honeycomb Framework to Investigate YouTube App's User Experience (UX): Results from Mining User Reviews at the 16th International Conference 2026, organised by Gitarattan International Business School on January 10-11, 2026.
Sohom Banerjee presented a research paper titled AI in Construction Safety: A Multilevel Predictive Model for Accident Prevention in India’s Construction Industry at the 4th International Conference on EMI, AI, Cybersecurity, and Emerging Technologies in Business and Management (ICAEEMI 2026), hosted by Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan, on March 20, 2026.
Krishaank Jugiani participated in Rajasthan GCC Conclave 2026 organised by ETGovernment in Jaipur on March 25, 2026.
Ujjwal Kumar participated in a workshop on Role of AI and Telecom in Dealing with Cyber Frauds & Digital Arrests organised by the ITU-APT Foundation of India in New Delhi on March 17, 2026. He also participated in the 1st Convergent Conference on Subsea Cable and Digital Cloud Infrastructure organised by the Broadband India Forum in New Delhi on February 24, 2026.
Amol Kulkarni participated in a conference on AI governance organised by the Centre for Communication Governance, NLU Delhi on February 17, 2026.
Vijay Singh participated in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Consultation on the Draft amendments to Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 in New Delhi on April 07, 2026.
Amol Kulkarni participated in a conference on Trust in Digital Financial Services organised by Dvara Research in New Delhi on February 12-13, 2026.
Sumanta Biswas and Sohom Banerjee attended the Nonprofit AI Jam organised by Karya and OpenAI at ICT.
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Jaipur • New Delhi • Chittorgarh • Kolkata • Hanoi • Nairobi • Lusaka • Accra • Geneva • Washington DC
Copyright © 2026 CUTS International, All rights reserved.
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