India's internet user base crossed 950 million in 2025, driven largely by rapid growth in rural connectivity, rising short-video consumption, and increasing adoption of AI, according to a report released by IAMAI on Thursday.
App-based communication services providers and Indian telcos are at loggerheads over the SIM-binding directions issued by the department of telecom, which are to be complied with by the end of February 2026.
Among urban users, 57 per cent mentioned a preference for accessing Internet content in vernacular languages.
The Karnataka government is planning to levy a fee of 1-2 per cent on aggregator platforms like Swiggy, Zomato, Flipkart, Amazon, Uber, etc., a government source said on Friday, adding that an announcement in this regard could come following a sub-committee meeting next week. "There is a sub-committee meeting scheduled in the coming week.
'Many were caught in a burnout race, chasing unsustainable growth without innovating.'
Tech and startup industry bodies have again pushed back against calls by telecom operators to bring over-the-top (OTT) services under a licensing regime similar to telcos, and open them up to taxation. Ahead of public consultations on the issue later this week, the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Nasscom and the US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), among others, have written to the government arguing against such efforts.
A group comprising top tech startups and unicorns has raised several "serious concerns" over a platform-based gig workers Bill proposed by the Karnataka government, saying it would hurt the ease of doing business. They told the state government the Bill in its current form would hamper operations and increase regulatory and compliance burden on the nascent gig and startup economy, according to sources.
Nearly 665 million Indians or 45 per cent of the rural population did not have access to the internet as of 2023. Difficulty in understanding internet procedures, insufficient awareness of its benefits, and a lack of interest have emerged as the top reasons for a gap in internet penetration in rural India, according to a joint report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Kantar. "The proficiency of English in rural India is very low. While we have content in Hindi, the internet is English-heavy.
The number of internet users in rural India increased 18 percent last year, faster than growth in urban areas and continuing a trend that started two years ago. Internet users in urban India increased 5 percent in 2021. Rural India has 351 million users, or 37 percent of people there, according to a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and data analytics company KANTAR.
'United Health Interface is in line with UPI. UPI is a language of money transfer, similarly, UHI is a set of protocols, which is going to create a language of health service delivery'
Former RBI deputy governor R Gandhi on Tuesday made a case for treating and regulating crypto as a separate asset class with a view to enabling governments around the world to effectively deal with illegal activities associated with virtual currencies. After quite a lot of debate over the years, he said, people have fully understood that crypto cannot be a currency because the fundamental element of a currency- that it should be a legal tender- is missing in this case. He said that in this case, one cannot compel a crypto currency to be accepted by another person as it is not a legal tender.
'EV-charging is the next big opportunity after fuelling'
Even if it wants to censor what you read, watch, or consume, the amount of content online is so huge that it is physically impossible for any government to do it, notes Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed banks and financial institutions to provide services related to cryptocurrencies by setting aside the RBI's 2018 circular which had prohibited them. A three-judge bench, headed by Justice R F Nariman, said the Reserve Bank of India circular is liable to be set aside on the ground of "proportionality". "Accordingly, the writ petitions are allowed and the circular dated April 6, 2018 is set aside," said the bench, also comprising justices Aniruddha Bose and V Ramasubramanian.
The government has created a comprehensive budget with sharp focus on sustaining economic activity and investment but more clarity is needed on areas like taxation framework for adopting remote working on a long-term basis, IT body Nasscom said on Monday. The industry association noted that the IT/ITeS (Information Technology-enabled Services) industry has been a key driver of growth and jobs in 2020 and there is an opportunity to significantly accelerate it further. "For the IT sector, one of the biggest needs ahead of us is the development of future business models, with hybrid working becoming a reality. "We look forward for the government to provide clarity on providing a framework in direct taxes and indirect taxes for the industry to adopt WFH/remote working on a long-term basis," Nasscom said in a statement.
Overall, India had 451 million internet users at the end of March this year, second only to China in terms of monthly active internet users, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) said in its report titled 'India Internet 2019'.
By June 2014, India's Internet user numbers will be staggering - ahead of the US and only a little behind China - but there are gaping holes in this growth story.
A study shows that Facebook and Twitter could have an influence in at least 160 Lok Sabha seats triggering a debate but two senior Union ministers -- Manish Tewari (information and broadcasting) and Kapil Sibal (information technology and telecom) -- disagree.
The online advertising market, comprising search, display, mobile, social media, email and video advertising, has grown by 29 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2,260 crore (Rs 22.6 billion) by March, 2013, the report jointly published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India and IMRB International said.
Affordable smartphones will help to increase the reach.
According to the latest report by Internet and Mobile Association of India, the number of people from rural regions accessing internet rose 73 per cent in the last two years.
Not just the product range, even discounts and returns policy are attractive. But there are pitfalls.
Last week, when news about Facebook acquiring the start-up photo-sharing app Instagram for a whopping $1 billion surfaced, the digital world was abuzz with frantic activity and comments.
The survey found that towns with less than 2 lakh population collectively returned a much higher number of internet users that the top four metros put together.
Websites that are not mobilefriendly will drop down in rankings
The total number of 'claimed' Internet users now stands at 112 million. Claimed users are those who say they have accessed the internet to get some specific information (checking results online, for example).
Fuelled by the sustained growth of the online travel industry, the Indian e-commerce market will gallop at an impressive growth rate of 47 per cent to over Rs 46,000 crore (Rs 460 billion) in the 2011 calendar year, a report said.
The Indian online advertising market comprising of text and display advertising will grow to Rs 993 crore (Rs 9.93 billion)in this fiscal from Rs 785 crore (Rs 7.85 billion) in the financial year 2009-10, a study says.
The penetration of the internet in rural areas will see an all time high this year.
In a joint report titled Internet in India, IAMAI and IMRB said the number of people who 'claimed' to have used internet in 2009 stood at 71 million.
Making the digital medium indispensable for marketing and branding initiatives and the need to look at Internet in a holistic sense were some of the ideas discussed by Ignitee Digital Solutions in association with the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has named Ajit Balakrishnan as its Chairman Emeritus.The governing board of the IAMAI has also unanimously elected Sanjeev Bikhchandani as its chairman for 2008-09.
Google India is talking to police organisations in cities across India to forge partnerships for jointly educating students, teachers and parents. According to Subho Ray, president, IAMAI, "Be NetSmart is a campaign to promote the concept of safe surfing among young school students. IAMAI will take up the programme on a sustainable basis on behalf of the industry and as well as make it a regular outreach campaign in the metros. IAMAI will also take it to the smaller towns."
An on-going survey, conducted by market research company IMRB International and the IMAI, noted that, as on September 30, 2008, India had 45.3 million active Internet users. Active Internet users are those who use the Internet at least once a month. Besides the lack of awareness of the Internet in India, the survey also found that the other barriers to its use included high charges by cybercafes, high cost of Internet access at home and accessibility to cybercafes.
In 2006, online business conducted during Diwali was around Rs 115 crore which is expected to cross the Rs 250 crore mark this year, according to the report. Even the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India in its press release said e-shopping is a preferred mode this Diwali as it has already registered a growth of 40 per cent and is expected to register a further growth of 130 per cent.
Company may look at 5-6 launches a year as the market for premium and niche products grows
The report notes that growth of internet users is primarily driven by the number of people, who have the know-how, use a computer unaided has grown to 65 million from 15.8 million in 2000. Besides, 70 per cent computer literates have used the internet some time or the other in their lives.
As 4G internet completes coverage of the entire country, rural markets have become the primary generator of sales.
The online gaming industry in India is worth Rs 21 crore (Rs 210 million), according to a report published by IMRB International on behalf of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
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