HEADLINES
JOBS
COM:PORT
POLICY POLICE
ARCHIVES

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India set up

The other two members are B K Zutshi, as vice-chairperson and N S Ramachandran as member.

Addressing a press conference soon after taking charge, Justice Sodhi said the TRAI would function very transparently and its hearing would be open except in some matters where secrecy would be required.

The authority would start functioning in a day or two, said Justice Sodhi who, till December, had been the Lok Pal of Punjab.

Earlier, he had served as chief justice of the Allahabad high court. Barrister at law from Lincolns Inn, Justice Sodhi also worked as district and sessions judge in Punjab.

He asserted that their effort would be to bring about efficiency in telecom services and protect consumers' interests.

While the TRAI's verdict will be binding on the Department of Telecommunication, the government can approach a high court against it, he explained.

He said as per a Supreme Court verdict, no authority can bar the jurisdiction of a high court.

When asked whether the TRAI would deal with financial and technical matters, he said the authority can take the services of experts if the need be. However, there is still scope to increase the strength of the TRAI by inducting two more members, he said.

The main functions of the TRAI would be to recommend entry of new service providers, ensure technical compatibility and effective connectivity between different service providers, regulate arrangement of revenue sharing derived by the service providers and ensure compliance of terms and conditions of licence.

Besides, the TRAI would facilitate competition and promote efficiency and sustained growth of telecommunications services, monitor the quality of service provided by the service providers, inspect the equipment used and recommend the types to be used by the service provider and settle disputes between service providers, Justice Sodhi informed.

He said it would render advice to the federal government on matters concerning telecommunications technology development and industry.

In addition, the authority, from time to time, would notify in the official gazette the rates at which telecommunication services within India and outside should be provided under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1985. This would also include the rates at which messages would be transmitted to any country outside India, he said.

It would adjudicate disputes which arise between service providers or between a service provider and a group of consumers.

It would not touch matters which lie within the purview of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act and the consumer fora, he clarified.

Zutshi, who retired as secretary in the Department of Fertilisers, has also worked as ambassador to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade during the Uruguay Round from 1989 to 1994. He was elected Chairman of GATT Council in 1992 and that of contracting parties in 1993, the two highest elected offices in GATT.

Ramachandran, a graduate from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and the National Defence College, had a long stint with the Indian Telecommunication Service since 1962 before he retired as chairman and managing director, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited. He is considered to be an expert in rural telecommunications.

UNI

Related Stories:
Reforming the telecom reforms
FCC to help set up India's Telecom Regulatory Authority
Parliament passes Telecom Regulatory Authority Bill

Tell us what you think of this story