Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
भारतीय दूरसंचार नियामक प्राधिकरण

Abbreviation	TRAI
Formation	1997
Legal status	Created by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997
Purpose	Independent regulator
Headquarters	New Delhi, India
Region served	India
Key people	Rahul Khullar (IAS Chairman) R. K. Arnold (ITS Member) Sudheer Gupta (ITS Secretary)
Website	www.trai.gov.in

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the independent regulator of the telecommunications business in India.^[1]

History

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was established on February 20, 1997 by an Act of Parliament. That act — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act of 1997 — was established to regulate telecom services and tariffs, which were previously vested in the Central Government.

TRAI's mission is to create and nurture conditions for the growth of telecommunications in India in a manner and pace that will enable the country to be able to play a leading role in the emerging global information society. One of the main objectives of TRAI is to provide a fair and transparent policy environment that promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition.

In pursuance of the above objective, TRAI has issued from time to time a large number of regulations, orders, and directives to deal with issues coming before it. It provided the required direction for the evolution of the Indian telecom market from a government owned monopoly to a multi-operator, multi-service, open competitive market. The directions, orders, and regulations that were issued covered a wide range of subjects including tariff, interconnection and quality of service, as well as governance of TRAI.

The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective 24 January 2000, establishing a Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions of TRAI. TDSAT was set up to adjudicate any dispute between a licencor and a licensee, between two or more service providers, between a service provider and a group of consumers, and to hear and dispose of appeals against any direction, decision, or order of TRAI.

The mission of TRAI is to create and nurture an environment which will enable the quick growth of the telecommunications sector of the country. One of the major objectives of TRAI is to provide a transparent policy environment. TRAI has regularly issued orders and directions on various subjects like tariff, interconnections, Direct To Home (DTH) services and mobile number portability.

The primary objective of TDSAT's establishment was to release TRAI from adjudicatory and dispute settlement functions in order to strengthen the regulatory framework. Any dispute involving parties like licencor, licensee, service provider, and consumer are resolved by TDSAT. Also, any direction, order or decision of TRAI can be challenged by appealing to TDSAT.^[2]

Board

Per the "Telecom regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Act, 2000", the authority shall have no more than two whole-time members as well as two part-time members.

Secretariat

TRAI is administered through a Secretariat headed by a secretary. All proposals for considerations are processed by the secretary, who organizes the agenda for Authority meetings (consulting with the Chairman), organizes the preparation of minutes and issues regulations, etc., in accordance to the meetings. The secretary is assisted by Advisors, namely Mobile Network, Interconnection & Fixed Network, BroadBand and Policy Analysis, Quality of Service, Broadcasting & Cable Services, Economic Regulation, Financial Analysis & IFA, Legal, Consumer Affairs & International Relation and RE & Administration & Personnel. Officers are selected from the premier Indian Telecommunications Service and also from the Indian Administrative Service.^[3]

See also

• Communications in India
• The Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations, 2010

References

External links

• Official website