The Hindu Business Line : TRAI moves SC seeking power to resolve interconnection rows

THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has approached the Supreme Court seeking powers to resolve disputes relating to interconnection between service providers.

The move comes after the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) recently passed an order that the TRAI did not have adjudicatory powers to resolve interconnection disputes.

Following the TRAI appeal, the Supreme Court issued notice to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) since TDSAT had passed the order based on a petition by the BSNL challenging a directive issued by TRAI.

While barring TRAI, the telecom tribunal had said: "When TRAI has no adjudicatory functions under the Act, it cannot in turn take the stand that it has powers to pass interim orders in disputes between two operators. If TRAI has no powers to pass final orders, it cannot certainly have powers to intervene to pass interim orders.''

TRAI contended that the since it had the power to frame regulations for interconnection, it also had the power to ensure compliance by settling disputes with regard to such matters. TRAI had earlier sent its recommendations to the Government seeking an amendment to the TRAI Act, which would expand its powers to include adjudicatory powers on matters related to interconnection.

The telecom regulator had come under fire from political quarters for not intervening in the dispute between Reliance Infocomm and BSNL over illegal routing of international long distance calls. TRAI had said that it could not intervene in the dispute since the TDSAT had barred it from using adjudicatory powers.

This is not the first time that the telecom regulator has challenged a TDSAT's order. Recently, in another case TRAI informed the Supreme Court that the TDSAT did not have adjudicatory powers to review the regulation on access deficit charges (ADC).

Meanwhile, TRAI has also written to the Government seeking financial independence by allowing it to use a part of the revenue collected from operator's licence fee for funding its operations instead of supporting it from the Consolidated Fund of India.

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