The practice of major social media platforms charging users for additional features and enhanced access is set to come under scrutiny, with the Parliamentary Committee on Communications and Information Technology deciding to summon representatives of Google, X, Instagram and Facebook over concerns relating to net neutrality.The decision was taken at a meeting of the committee held at Parliament House on Tuesday. After the meeting, committee chairperson and BJP MP from Jharkhand’s Godda Nishikant Dubey said, “We will summon service providers — Google, Amazon, Facebook, X and all major companies — and ask them what kind of facilities are being offered to different categories of users.”Speaking to mediapersons after the meeting of the parliamentary panel, Dubey cited X as an example of differential access based on payment models. “For example, on X, if you pay some money, you are allowed to write more,” he said.“We will call all of them because we have to think about the interests of 140 crore people, and everyone should receive equal rights and equal respect. The Constitution guarantees the right to equality,” Dubey said.What is net neutrality?Net neutrality is the principle that all internet traffic must be treated equally by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), without discrimination based on content, platform or user. It ensures equal and open access to the internet, protects consumer rights and maintains a level playing field for businesses, platforms and digital creators online. Under this principle, telecom and broadband companies cannot block access to lawful websites, deliberately slow down specific apps or services, or create paid “fast lanes” for companies willing to pay more.The BJP MP stressed that net neutrality was central to the committee’s discussions. “Net neutrality is important because the 140 crore people who use the internet should receive equal rights and protections under consumer protection principles, with dignity and fairness for all,” he said.Dubey also raised concerns over the divide between prepaid and postpaid telecom users in India. He noted that nearly 90 per cent of mobile consumers are prepaid users, while only around 10 per cent are postpaid subscribers.“The network exists, and the licence conditions governing it are decided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Government of India. Most users in this system are prepaid consumers. These companies want to provide more facilities and benefits to postpaid users and fewer to prepaid users. That is what we have come here to understand,” he said.Airtel defends ‘Priority Postpaid’Bharti Airtel has defended its new ‘Priority Postpaid’ service before a Parliamentary panel meeting on Tuesday, asserting that the offering, powered by 5G network slicing, neither violates net neutrality norms nor degrades service quality for prepaid users, according to sources.Dubey said the committee had not yet reached any conclusion and that further deliberations were required. “We have not reached a conclusion yet; we will still need to hold more meetings,” he said.During the meeting, representatives of the Ministry of Communications (Department of Telecommunications) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India briefed the panel on quality-of-service standards and consumer protection in the telecom sector, with special focus on net neutrality in relation to telecommunications services.