The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) will strategy the Prime Minister’s Workplace (PMO) to current its case towards the Division of Telecommunications (DoT) transfer to considerably dilute its powers within the draft telecom Invoice. The Authority can also be within the technique of writing to the DoT highlighting its opposition to a number of clauses within the new Invoice, which just about make it a rubber stamp of the federal government.
In line with sources, the telecom regulator plans to make an in depth presentation to the PMO displaying how investor confidence and ease of doing enterprise would get damage if Trai’s powers are whittled down. Three predominant areas — tariffs, high quality of service requirements and dispute decision mechanism — the place the federal government has encroached upon the powers of the regulator in addition to the appellate tribunal are prone to determine within the presentation.
The Trai is of the view that there could be hostile ramifications if the Invoice will get enacted as a regulation in its present format, particularly with regard to regulation of tariff – an space the place the federal government presently has no energy. The Invoice proposes that together with the regulator, even the federal government would have the facility with regard to tariffs and may overrule any transfer taken by the regulator. As an example, any tariff order issued by the Trai must be suitably amended if the federal government takes a stance which is diametrically reverse to that of the regulator. This could mainly make the federal government a licensor, an operator (it owns BSNL/MTNL), in addition to a regulator.
As an example, right this moment Trai has put telecom tariffs underneath forbearance, that means telecom operators are free to plot their tariff packages and implement them to this point they file the identical with the regulator inside every week of implementation. If the Trai finds something objectionable, it directs the operator involved to make appropriate adjustments, however operators don’t want its approval earlier than implementing any new tariff bundle. Nevertheless, underneath the draft Invoice, if the federal government feels that the coverage on forbearance must be modified, it could go forward and do it and the Trai must abide by it.
“This could fully erode investor confidence as there could be no predictability within the regulatory regime. The Trai takes measures after an open consultative course of, however the Invoice has not laid down any clauses which mandates the federal government additionally to do the identical,” a supply informed FE.
The federal government has additionally encroached upon the regulator’s powers on laying down high quality of requirements of service and monitoring it. Underneath the Invoice, the federal government may also have the powers to do the identical and if there’s a divergence, the federal government’s view would prevail. So topics like name drops, spam messages and calls, and many others, will transfer to the federal government’s area.
The third space is with regard to decision of disputes the place the powers of the Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) get redundant. At present, TDSAT is the primary physique which seems to be into any dispute between two telecom operators, telecom operators and the federal government, and between operators, the federal government and in addition to the regulator. Solely as soon as the TDSAT has handed orders on such disputes can they be appealed within the Supreme Court docket. The draft Invoice adjustments this by empowering the federal government to give you alternate dispute decision mechanism.
“If the Central authorities is of the opinion that any dispute, or class of disputes, could also be resolved extra appropriately by arbitration, mediation or different technique of dispute decision, then the Central authorities could set up an acceptable mechanism for decision of such disputes,” reads the clause on this regard.
As reported earlier, the draft Invoice additionally seeks to amend Part 11 of the Trai Act, 1997, which lays down that on measures like licensing, new companies and spectrum administration, the place the powers vest with the federal government, for any new measure or adjustments, the federal government first wants to hunt the suggestions of the Trai. If the Invoice turns into a regulation in its present format, this is able to not be necessary on the federal government’s half. It might or could not search the regulator’s suggestions, thus eroding the transparency which was constructed within the technique of policymaking. FE