Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is a statutory body set up by the Government of India under section 3 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997. It is the regulator of the telecommunications sector in India.[1] It consists of a Chairperson and not more than two full-time members and not more than two part-time members. The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective from 24 January 2000, establishing a Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions from TRAI.

"TRAI" redirects here. For other uses, see TRAI (disambiguation).

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
Regulatory agency overview
Formed20 February 1997 (1997-02-20)
JurisdictionIndia
HeadquartersMahanagar Doorsanchar Bhawan, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg (Old Minto Road), New Delhi
Regulatory agency executives
Key document
Websitewww.trai.gov.in

History

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India was established on 20 February 1997 by an Act of Parliament to regulate telecom services and tariffs in India. Earlier regulation of telecom services and tariffs was overseen by the Central Government. The current Chairman of TRAI is Ram Sewak Sharma.[2]

TRAI's mission is to create and nurture conditions for the growth of telecommunications in India to enable the country to have a leading role in the emerging global information society.[3]

One of its main objectives is to provide a fair and transparent environment that promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition in the market. TRAI regularly issues orders and directions on various subjects such as tariffs, interconnections, quality of service, Direct To Home (DTH) services and mobile number portability.

In January 2016, TRAI introduced an important change in telecommunication that would benefit all consumers. Effective from 1 January 2016, consumers will be compensated for call drops.[4] However, there is a catch, per the rule, mobile users will get compensation of Re 1 for every dropped call but it will be limited to a maximum three dropped calls in a day. This regulation has been quashed by Supreme Court on the ground of being "unreasonable, arbitrary and unconstitutional".[5]

Secretariat

TRAI is administered through a Secretariat headed by a secretary. All proposals are processed by the secretary, who organises the agenda for Authority meetings (consulting with the Chairman), prepares the minutes and issues regulations in accordance to the meetings. The secretary is assisted by advisors. These include Mobile Network, Interconnection and FixeNetwork, BroadBand and Policy Analysis, Quality of Service, Broadcasting & Cable Services, Economic Regulation, Financial Analysis & IFA, Legal, Consumer Affairs & International Relation and Administration & Personnel. Officers are selected from the Indian Telecommunications Service and the Indian Administrative Service.[6]

TRAI Mobile Apps

On 6 June 2017, TRAI launched three new apps and a web portal to ensure that the Indian users are fully aware of the telecom services that are being offered to them.

Mycall app, MySpeed app and 'Do not disturb (DND 2.0)' apps are now going to educate and ensure that there is transparency between what consumers are paying for and what telecom operators are promising to provide at a certain rate.

Recent TRAI initiatives

In order to increase broadband penetration in India, TRAI has proposed WANI (Wi-Fi Access Network Interface) architecture. If implemented, it may lead to set up of Public Data Offices (PDOs) where Wi-FI Internet would be available on demand. TRAI relates the same with PCOs which were used to do the voice calls and were very popular hotspots before the mobile phones or home landlines became the ultimate mode of communication.[7]

TRAI reports

To increase transparency and give a data-based overview of Indian Telecom Industry at regular intervals, TRAI publishes multiple reports under Release/Publication "Reports" section

Controversies

Jio

Allegedly, TRAI bent its rules multiple times to let Jio, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, become a market leader in the span of a few years. Jio was allowed to "test" its services for a much longer period and with a much larger subscriber base than was the industrial norm. In a letter to the telecom department, Rajan Mathews of the Cellular Operators Association of India wrote that Reliance's offers were "full-blown and full-fledged services masquerading as tests, which bypass regulations and can potentially game policy features." TRAI was also accused of modifying its definition of "significant market power" so as to exclude Jio from strict scrutiny. Whilst initially the definition of market power was based on total network activity, the parameters were changed to subscriber share and gross revenue. Jio qualified as a significant market power according to the first definition but not the second.[8]

See also

References
  1. "The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 — The Centre for Internet and Society". Cis-india.org. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  2. "TRAI Chairman Ram Sewak Sharma Gets Two-Year Extension".
  3. "Dropped calls may earn you Re 1 compensation - The Economic Times". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  4. "All telcos meet key call quality benchmarks in Delhi NCR: Trai".
  5. "SC strikes down 'arbitrary, unconstitutional' call drop penalty". Moneycontrol.com. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  6. "TRAI Manual" (PDF).
  7. "WANI Network Architecture Proposal for TRAI Public Data Office (PDO) - Techplayon". Techplayon. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  8. Block, Daniel. "How Reliance Jio is monopolising the telecom sector". The Caravan. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
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