Kapil Sibal, Minister of Telecommunications and IT, has asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to consider granting the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) quasi-judicial powers to adjudicate on the issue of the penalities imposed by DoT on operators.
In a written correspondence to R Chandrasekhar, secretary, DoT, Sibal has said, “The Department may like to vest such powers in TRAI, which is a statutory authority, entitled to regulate the conduct of telecom service providers.?
Quasi-judicial refers to the actions of an agency, board, or other government entity which carry out hearings, orders, judgements or other activities similar to those conducted by courts.
Prior to this, Sibal had asked DoT to frame guidelines pertaining to the amount of penalty imposed on operators for violating licence conditions. He added that this process should be made as scientific as possible. Currently, DoT has been levying a maximum penalty of Rs 500 million on all such cases.
Sibal said that imposing the maximum penalty in each case may lead to unnecessary litigations and delays in realisation of penalty. He added that while imposing the maximum penalty is legal, the penalty amount may require DoT to re-analyse the situation and decide the sum, depending on the gravity of the case. So, not every violation should carry a penalty of Rs 500 million.
Further, when a DoT official determines the amount of penalty to be imposed, the reasons for imposition of that amount must be explained.
Sibal asked DoT to submit the guidelines on this issue by September this year.
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