About  

• The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) was established under the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003 in 2002. 
• The Telecommunications Act, 2023 renamed USOF as Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN). 
• The DBN has the mandate to support universal service through promoting access and delivery of telecommunication service in underserved rural, remote and urban areas. 
• The balance to the credit of DBN, collected as Universal Access Levy, does not lapse at the end of the financial year. 

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2077900