The Supreme Court has said that the Department of Telecommunications? (DoT) opinion on licence terms and conditions will be taken into consideration and not that of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The court said that TRAI?s regulatory and other non-recommendatory functions, as specified by the TRAI Act, 1997 shall be performed independent of the Central government’s functions which are binding on the licencee companies.
The court said, ?If differences arise between TRAI and the Central government with regard to a particular term or condition of a licence, TRAI?s recommendation will not prevail and instead the decision of the Central government will be final and binding.?
The court further said that TRAI and the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal could not decide on the validity of the term adjusted gross revenue in the licence agreement.
Another issue before the court was whether the enactment of the TRAI Act, 1997 affected the jurisdiction of the Central government with respect to telecommunication-related activities and altered the contractual nature of the licence granted to the licencee under the Telegraph Act.
The court also interpreted the provision contained in section 11 of the TRAI Act 1997, which states that notwithstanding anything contained in the Telegraph Act, the regulator shall make recommendations, either suo motu or on a request from a licencor on the terms and conditions of licence to a service provider.
