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Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

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Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
भारतीय दूरसंचार नियामक प्राधिकरण
AbbreviationTRAI
Formation1997
Legal statusCreated by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997
PurposeIndependent regulator
HeadquartersNew Delhi, India
Region served
India
Key people
Rahul Khullar
(IAS Chairman)
R. K. Arnold
(ITS Member)
Sudheer Gupta
(ITS Secretary)
Websitewww.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 to regulate telecom services and tariffs in India. Prior to the TRAI, regulation of telecom services and tariffs were overseen by the Central Government.

The TRAI's mission is to create and nurture conditions for growth of telecommunications in India in a manner and pace that will enable the country to have a leading role in the emerging global information society. One of the main objectives of the TRAI is to provide a fair and transparent environment that promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition in the market. The TRAI has regularly issued orders and directions on various subjects like tariff, interconnections, Direct To Home (DTH) services, and mobile number portability. For example, it instituted the direction to allow the Indian telecom market to evolve from a government owned monopoly to a multi-operator, multi-service, open competitive market.

In January of 2000, the TRAI was amended to establish the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions of the TRAI. The 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. In addition, 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.

Members of TRAI As of 2012
Name Designation
Dr. Rahul Khullar Chairman
R.K.Arnold Whole time member
Vijayalakshmy K. Gupta Whole time member
H.S. Jamadagni Part-time member
Pankaj Chandra Part-time member
List of former Chairman of TRAI
Name Tenure
S. S. Sodhi 1997-2000
M. S. Verma 2000-2003
Pradip Baijal 2003-2006
Nripendra Misra 2006-2009
A. K. Sahney March–May 2009 (Interim)
J.S.Sarma 2009-2012

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

References

  1. ^ "TRAI website". Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  2. ^ http://www.trai.gov.in/Content/History.aspx
  3. ^ "TRAI Manual" (PDF).