The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has requested the Supreme Court (SC) for a three month-extension to formulate the new interconnection usage charge (IUC) regime.
Prior to this, the court had given TRAI four months, starting February 4, 2011, for framing recommendations on IUC, which expired on June 4.
Meanwhile, TRAI, which is facing opposition from new and old established operators over the issues and methods adopted in consultation process to review IUC, has requested the court to provide suitable directions over it. It has requested the court to ?grant suitable direction regarding the procedure and method to be followed by it (TRAI) since there are difficulties/issues with regard to implementation of compliance with the directions of TDSAT in the impugned order?.
Interconnection charges are paid by a telecom service provider for using network of other operators for transmitting and completing a call. TRAI?s IUC regulation was widely opposed by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Bharti airtel, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Etisalat DB and the Association of Unified Service Providers of India (AUSPI) on various grounds.
In May 2011, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had dismissed the plea filed by Vodafone over a few questions incorporated in TRAI?s IUC consultation paper.
On February 4, 2011, this year a three?judge bench of the court, headed by the Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, had directed TRAI to frame the IUC regulation afresh as per the directions of the TDSAT.
The TDSAT had, on September 29, 2010, set aside TRAI?s Interconnection Usage Charges (Regulation), 2009 and asked the regulator to frame fresh regulations in consultations with various stake holders. Following it, TRAI on April 27 issued a consultation paper on IUC. However, a set of GSM companies questioned some of the issues raised in it, contending that it was not in accordance with the directions of TDSAT.
