TRAI Full Form
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is abbreviated as TRAI. It is a regulatory agency established in 1997 by the Government of India, according to the TRAI(Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) Act, Section 3,1997, to monitor the Indian telecoms industry.
Full Form of TRAI
TRAI is in charge of ensuring the telecom sector's uniform growth and preserving the demands of both telecommunications providers and customers. It encourages technology advancements and makes recommendations to increase productivity and technical compatibility.
What is the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) of India?
- Legal Protection: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was founded by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, on February 20, 1997.
- TRAI's Objectives:
- The objective of TRAI is to develop and cultivate circumstances for the country's telecommunications growth.
- TRAI controls telecom services, including the establishment and revision of rates for telecom services that were previously the responsibility of the Central Government.
- It also seeks to create a policy climate that is fair and transparent, promoting equal opportunities and facilitating fair competition.
- Headquarters: New Delhi is home to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) headquarters.
What Constitutes TRAI's Composition?
- Members: The TRAI is composed of two full-time members, two part-time members, and the Chairperson. They are all appointed by the Indian government.
- Members' Terms of Office: The Chairperson and the remaining members serve for three years or until they reach the age of sixty-five, whoever comes first.
- Chairperson: The Chairperson has broad superintendence authority.
- He or she is in charge of the TRAI's meetings.
- Vice-Chairperson: The Central Government may designate the Vice-Chairperson of TRAI to a position on the Authority.
- The vice-chairperson assumes the responsibilities and authority of the chairman in the absence of the latter.
- Removal of Members: The Central Government has the authority to suspend/remove any member of the TRAI who has demonstrated insolvency, been found guilty of a crime that involve moral turpitude, or stopped to be mentally or physically capable of fulfilling the duties of the position, or abused the position in such a manner that makes it inadvisable for them to continue in office.
- Meetings of TRAI: The Chairperson may occasionally set up the sessions. Overseeing the arrangements is he or she.
- The Vice-Chairperson oversees the meetings in the Chairperson's absence.
- Anyone with the Authority can be chosen to chair the meeting if a vice-chairperson is absent.
- A majority of the votes of the present members make decisions in meetings.
- A casting vote is cast by the meeting's Chairperson, who also throws a second vote in the case of an even voice in the number of votes.
How Does TRAI Perform Its Duties?
- Suggestions Are Made: Making recommendations on the following issues is the role of the TRAI:
- Launching a new service provider is necessary.
- License termination due to failure to abide by the terms and conditions of the license.
- Measures to enhance efficiency and competition in providing telecommunications services to facilitate their development.
- Technological advancements in the services offered by service providers.
- Responsibilities: The TRAI takes responsibility for carrying out the following functions:
- Ensuring that the license terms and conditions are followed.
- Ensure technological compliance and effective interconnection of various service providers.
- Defining the quality of service that service providers will offer.
- Ensuring service quality and conducting frequent surveys of these kinds of services.
- The TRAI Act of 1997 requires timely and official notification of the prices at which telecommunication services inside and beyond India must be offered.
- Non-Binding Recommendations: The Central Government is not required to follow the TRAI's recommendations.
- The Central Government sends the Authority's recommendations back for further consideration if it finds problems or refuses to accept any of the TRAI's recommendations.
- Within 15 days of receiving the Central Government's referral, the TRAI reviews it and sends its recommendation to them.
What Are TRAI's Powers?
Requesting Furnishing Information Order: It has the Authority to ask that any service provider produce any written information or justification regarding its operations that the Authority might need.
Appointments for Inquiry: The Authority can choose one or more individuals to investigate any service provider's operations.
Order for Inspection: It has the Authority to order any of its officials or workers to look into any service provider's accounts or additional documents.
Give Instructions to Service Providers: The Authority may give service providers instructions essential to their efficient operation.
How does the Telecom Dispute Resolution and Appellate Tribunal operate exactly?
- 1997 TRAI Act Modification: The adjudicatory and dispute resolution functions of TRAI were transferred to the Telecommunications Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) in 2000 after the TRAI Act was revised.
- Objectives: The TDSAT was established to resolve any disputes between:
- There is a licensor and a licensee. At least two service providers
- A service supplier and several customers
- It was also formed to hear and decide appeals against any TRAI direction, decision, or order.
- The Central Government will appoint the Chairperson and the other two members of the TDSAT.
- The Chief Justice of India is consulted when the Central Government chooses the members.
Qualifications:
- Chairperson: A candidate can only be appointed as Chairperson if they are currently serving as or have previously served as a Chief Justice of the High Court or the judge of the Supreme Court of India.
- Other Members: The individual in question must have held the position of Secretary for the Government of India or a position of a similar nature within the Central or State Government.
- Office term: The TDSAT Chairperson while the other members will be in office for a maximum of four years, or seventy years, whichever comes first.
- The maximum age for members besides the Chairperson is 65 years old.
- Members Removed: Any member of this Tribunal may be removed under the same circumstances as specified by the TRAI.
- TDSAT's Jurisdiction: The civil courts lack the Authority to consider any case that the TDSAT has the Authority to decide.
- The Tribunal has all the Authority of a civil court, and any order it passes is enforceable as an order of that court.
- It is governed by the ideas of natural justice rather than the process outlined in the Code of Civil Procedure.
- The Tribunal can control its processes.
- Penalties: The penalties for offences handled by TDSAT are the same as those operated by TRAI.