Telecom Regulatory Authority of India & Competition Commission of India: Jurisdictional Conflicts

Abstract

The interface between sector-specific regulation and competition law in India is unique. In the immediate past, the Indian economy has witnessed a massive growth spurt. While the fast-paced development has lifted millions of people up from poverty levels, it has also led to concomitant challenges. India has seen several economic scandals and other crises during the period of economic boom. A significant feature of the Indian economic and legal regime during this period has been a mushrooming of innumerable regulatory authorities. With several regulatory authorities cropping up simultaneously, it is natural that they might end up having overlapping jurisdictions. Therefore, it is critical to appreciate the genesis of the Indian strand of regulatory jurisprudence. The recent controversy regarding the conflict of jurisdiction between Competition Commission of India (CCI) and other sectoral regulators like Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has generated a lot of interest in public. It has been reported that Government is considering ‘clipping the wings’ of CCI. In this work an attempt is made to provide the overview of two regulators of telecom industry which are TRAI and CCI and discussion is done about the conflicting issues between both these regulators. It is also discussed whether telecom industry need both the regulators simultaneously and finally conclude the work with some suggestions.