Trai calls on DoT, I&B to speed up decisions on recos

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has called on the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the ministry of information & broadcasting (MIB) to speed up long pending decisions on a host of its key recommendations, warning that the latter would become irrelevant if follow-up government decisions continue to hang fire indefinitely.

“Over the last few years, Trai has sent several recommendations to DoT and MIB on important issues concerning growth of telecoms and broadcasting & cable services, but many are still pending decision / implementation…if decisions are not taken in a reasonable time-frame, the recommendations lose their relevance,” the regulator said in its FY21 annual report.

This, it said, is since technological advancements and changes keep happening in the telecom and broadcasting sectors, which is why delays end up defeating the whole purpose of Trai making these recommendations.


Trai added that if the recommendations are accepted, but implemented after a lapse of many years, their impact gets diminished due to the delay.

In its 196-page FY21 annual report, Trai has cited a host of its key recommendations issued years ago where follow-up action is still pending from either the DoT or the I&B ministry.

For instance, some key Trai’s recommendations yet to cleared by DoT include those around reforming guidelines for transfer/merger of telecom licences, the methodology of applying spectrum usage charges (SUC) under the weighted average method in cases of spectrum sharing, its suggestions around traffic management practices (TMPs) and call for a multi-stakeholder body for net neutrality, those around privacy, security and ownership of data and cloud services amongst others.

The sector regulator has also cited numerous recommendations relating to broadcasting and cable services where follow-up action from the I&B ministry is hanging fire for years, and in some cases for almost a decade. These include Trai’s recommendations on restrictions on certain entities from entering broadcasting & distribution of TV channels, on issues relating to digital terrestrial broadcasting (DTT) in India, on reserve prices for auction of FM Radio channels in new cities, on issues relating to uplinking/downlinking of TV channels, on the inter-operability of set-top boxes (STBs) and more recently its suggestions on reviewing TV audience measurement & rating systems.

Accordingly, Trai has underlined the need for a “feedback mechanism” through which the concerned ministries – communications and I&B -- can share information with it on acceptance/implementation of the recommendations.

“In cases of non-acceptance / partial acceptance /delayed acceptance of the recommendations, the reasons for rejection/partial acceptance /pendency and other relevant details need to be shared by the concerned ministry (DoT/MIB),” Trai said in its annual report.

It added that such a feedback mechanism -- ensuring periodic review on the implementation status of Trai recommendations -- would accordingly help the regulator formulate policies in future and evolve the requisite regulatory framework.

Trai, in fact, has developed a portal that will track the status of government action on its recommendations that can be accessed by DoT and the I&B ministry.