DoT to make room for 'powerful' regulator in new telecom Bill

The Department of Telecommunications (DOT) is dropping all the amendments to the Trai Act which had been proposed in the draft Telecommunications Bill of September 2022 as it prepares for the final Bill.

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

The proposed changes had come under attack from the regulator as well as telecom and broadcasting companies who had said that it would substantially weaken the regulator and the balance of power between them and the DoT. Trai is believed to have approached the prime minister's office on the matter.

The draft bill had suggested doing away with the referencing and back referencing of recommendations between the DoT and Trai which in effect removed the statutory requirement of consultation with the regulator before making policy; diluting the regulator's powers on tariffs by adding a clause that any tariff order could be changed and amended by the DoT; and weakening the power of adjudication vested with TDSAT in case of disputes between telcos or between the latter and the government by creating an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. Currently, TDSAT judgements could be appealed only in the Supreme Court.