The government has not been able to find
a successor to the current TRAI chief, who retires on May 14.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is most likely to remain “headless” for some time now.
According to three sources in the know, with the current chairman of telecom watchdog expected to retire on May 14 and the government unable to decide on a candidate to succeed him, there could be a situation where the Trai could have one of its senior officials taking over reins as “interim chairman.”
One of the sources said the government was considering one of Trai members to act as the “officiating chairman” till it finalises a successor to Sarma.
Currently, the four members at Trai are R Ashok —member (FT), RK Arnold member (FT), H S Jamadagni - member (PT and Pankaj Chandra - member (PT).
For long, the name of Union commerce secretary Rahul Khullar had been doing the rounds in the industry circles. However, a certain section of the government is hesitant on selecting him as he is said to be allied to a certain industry player.
“There are many pulls and pushes, which have made the government indecisive. In such a scenario, it seems appropriate to defer the decision. Moreover, it’s (TRAI's) most crucial role in the spectrum auction of providing recommendations is over,” said the source.
The regulatory body came with its recommendations for spectrum auction on April 23. The telecom industry has criticised the high reserve price of Rs3,622 per megahertz (MHz) suggested by it. Mobile operators fear high spectrum cost will send the tariff zooming and “sound the death knell for the sector.”
In view of the opposition from the industry players, the government has sought clarifications from TRAI, which is expected respond before Sarma retires on Monday.
“From what we know, TRAI is unlikely to change its recommendations. It (TRAI) will only offer justifications for the queries raised by the government, and that is going to be the final draft of its recommendations. After that it will be the Telecom Commission (TC) or the telecom ministry which will take a final call on the reserve price and other issues relating to the spectrum auction,” said the source.
He said the government apparently finds it convenient to keep TRAI “headless” as that way it can retain the decision-making power relating to the auction in its hands and not get swayed by any lobby.
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