TRAI to get powers to levy penalties on mobile operators

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is going to get powers to penalize those mobile operators who contravene its directions. The set of regulations will be announced within the next few days that would define the amount of fine for such breaches in the quality of service standards, as well as other breaches. 

Currently, the TRAI Act only empowers it to prosecute the mobile operators in the court of metropolitan magistrates. However, other similar regulators such as Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Competition Commission of India do have similar powers. 

The new move to get powers to levy penalties has come after the new interpretation from TRAI about Section 29. TRAI has also decided to amend tariff orders to insert penalty provisions as well. As per media reports, a TRAI official says that “Section 29 of the TRAI Act empowers the regulator to enforce its directions. We have gone through certain rulings of the Delhi High Court, which state that the regulator has the powers to enforce its writ. This means we can do whatever we want to ensure that our directions are not disobeyed by the operators and thus we can amend various tariff orders ourselves to levy fines and penalties”.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/telecom-news/item/977-trai-to-get-powers-to-levy-penalties-on-mobile-operators.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/news/telecom-news/item/977-trai-to-get-powers-to-levy-penalties-on-mobile-operators.html