DoT says TRAI can impose penalty of up to Rs 10 crore, no imprisonment

Department of Telcommunications (DoT) has said that Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) can impose a penalty of up to Rs 10 crore but will not have powers to order imprisonment. 

Trai had approached telcom ministry asking for an increase in its power to penalise errant. It had also asked for powers to pass orders of imprisonment of up to two year to those violating any regulatory framework.

Trai had also proposed for an amendment in Section 29 of the Trai act 1997 to introduce three new sub-section such as 29A, 29B and 29C. 

In this regards, the cabinet will send a note to DoT for change in Trai act. 

To protect consumer interest and tightening the screw on call drops, Trai had appealed Supreme Court for granting powers in May 2016. 

However, this was turned down by the apex court stating that the term is "arbitrary, illegal and unreasonable". It said, the telecom companies cannot be punished by the regulatory in the name of safe-guarding the consumer interests.

This rejection was also followed by Trai's plan to set new rules for mandating telecom operators to pay Re 1 for each dropped call, subject to maximum Rs 3 per day. 

Till now, Trai had the power to impose fine of up to Rs 2 lakh for a violation and in case default continues, a penalty of Rs 2 lakh can be imposed till the time the violation continues.