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LS passes TRAI Amendment Bill

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, March 13

THE Lok Sabha on Monday passed by voice-vote a Bill which seeks to strengthen the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and set up a Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal, with the Communications Minister, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, announc ing that Internet connectivity would be provided to all district headquarters by June 2002.

Opposition parties charged the Government of rushing with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill 2000 and earlier promulgating the Ordinance ``bypassing'' Parliament. Their demand that the Bill be referred to the Parliamentary Standin g Committee on Telecommunications for a clause by clause review was rejected by Mr. Paswan.

Replying to the debate on the Bill, Mr. Paswan defended the decision to exclude the TRAI from the purview of CAG audit on the grounds that it would impede the functioning of the Authority.

The Ordinance, which was promulgated on January 24, makes a clear distinction between the recommendatory, advisory and regulatory functions of the TRAI under sub-section (1) of Section 11 of the Act.

The functions of the Authority include, among other things, to fix the terms and conditions of interconnectivity between service providers, laying down the standards of quality of service and making recommendations on efficient management of the availabl e spectrum. The tariff setting functions of the Authority have also been brought under the purview of sub-section (3) of section 11.

The Communications Minister also dismissed the charge that the powers of the TRAI had been curtailed. He pointed out that the Government had hived off the function of dispute resolution to the Appellate Tribunal.