The government is reportedly planning to add more teeth to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). According to reports, the government is planning to bring forth a bill that give the regulator powers to penalise service providers for failing to adhere to rules and regulators.
Economic Times quotes its sources as saying the telecom ministry in an ongoing inter-ministerial consultation has said that “jurisdiction to impose penalties through a transparent process for default in compliance with its orders and regulations as well as for non-observance of terms and conditions of licence is proposed to be vested in TRAI”.
It’s learnt the TRAI has powers to regulate and monitor rates, quality and other aspects telecom and broadcasting services. But it cannot penalise the service providers those failing to meet to rules and guidelines. The regulator has often found operators and service providers flouting industry guidelines but could not penalise them.
“It has to file a complaint before a criminal court for adjudication of liabilities. Its ability to enforce its direction and regulation has, thereby, been severely constrained,” the source said.
The Economic Times report quotes another government official as saying that the minister has almost wrapped up the process of consultation. “Only comments from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Planning Commission are awaited. After which Department of Telecom will compile the comments, make draft and send it to Law Ministry before placing it before Cabinet,” the official said.
“The approval of Cabinet will be taken for introduction of Telecom Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2013 in Parliament,” he added.
Source: Economic Times