Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

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 communication 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.