Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
| Published date | 01 December 2018 |
| Date | 01 December 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556118783097 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
64(4) 599–613
© 2018 IIPA
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0019556118783097
http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ipa
Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India
Niraj Kumar1
Mahendra Prasad Singh2,3
Abstract
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was created in the onrush of such
agencies following the paradigm shift from Indian Socialism to business liberalism
and globalisation in 1991. The study of its functioning shows it to be less than
adequately autonomous and less than sufficiently overseen by the parliament and
its committee system. As a regulatory mechanism for the information and commu-
nication technology sector, TRAI’s importance cannot ever be overstressed in the
context of the gradual transformation of India’s industrial society into information
and knowledge society. In a way, in the long trajectory of the transformation of
the public sphere in the course of the transition from feudal oligarchy to bourgeois
democracy, the telecom space can be seen as the new frontier to be explored
and harnessed in expanding and deepening democracy. The existing structure
of TRAI falls short on the parameters of transparency, efficiency, autonomy and
accountability, calling for reforms.
Keywords
Independent regulatory authority, Telecom Regulatory Authority, autonomy,
accountability
Introduction
This article seeks to explore a relatively understudied topic of telecommunication
sector in India from the perspective of political science and public administration,
which has undergone rapid and rather radical transformation since the onset of
comprehensive economic liberalisation in 1991, when the state-led industrial sector
1 Department of Political Science, Maharaja Agrasen College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India.
2 Professor of Political Science (Retd.), University of Delhi, Delhi, India.
3 Honorary Senior Fellow, Centre for Multilevel Federalism, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi,
India.
Corresponding author:
Niraj Kumar, Department of Political Science, Maharaja Agrasen College, Vasundhara Enclave,
New Delhi 110096, India.
E-mail: niraj55b@gmail.com
1 Department of Political Science, Maharaja Agrasen College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India.
2 Professor of Political Science (Retd.), University of Delhi, Delhi, India.
3 Honorary Senior Fellow, Centre for Multilevel Federalism, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi,
India.
Corresponding author:
Niraj Kumar, Department of Political Science, Maharaja Agrasen College, Vasundhara Enclave,
New Delhi 110096, India.
E-mail: niraj55b@gmail.com
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