NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has been asked to give its suggestions on a draft cabinet note prepared by the Telecom Ministry to give greater powers to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to penalise service providers for failing to comply with its directives and rules and regulations.

An I&B Ministry source confirmed to indiantelevision.com that a note had been received, and had in fact also been sent to the Planning Commission for its opinion.

The Telecom Ministry in the note has stressed on the need for increasing TRAI?s jurisdiction to impose penalties through a transparent process for default in compliance with its orders and regulations as well as for non-observance of terms and conditions of license.

TRAI at present does not have power to impose penalties, though it can regulate and monitor rates, quality and other parameters of telecom and broadcasting services to protect consumer interest. The regulator is understood to have conveyed to the Telecom Ministry that in the process of its periodic performance indicator reports of service providers, it has often found telecom operators involved in billing disputes lagged in addressing complaints of subscribers.

Such lapses by service providers therefore can only be sorted out if TRAI chooses to file a complaint before a criminal court for adjudication of liabilities.

A Telecom Ministry official said after replies are received from the I&B Ministry and the Commission, the Department of Telecom will send the draft with the comments to the Law Ministry for placing it before the Cabinet.

The aim is to ensure TRAI can periodically monitor efficient use of spectrum and take action in case airwaves are being used inefficiently by service providers.

MUMBAI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has received 750 complaints of paid news during the state assembly elections in the current year, Information & Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari said.

In comparison, the ECI had received 155 complaints of paid news during the state assembly elections last year.
Tewari also informed that the Press Council of India (PCI) has received nine complaints of paid news this year compared to 17 in the previous.

"The Press Council of India (PCI), an autonomous body to maintain and improve the standards of press, received 17 complaints of paid news in the year 2009-10, two complaints in the year 2010-11 and 11 complaints in 2011-12 and nine complaints till date in the current year," Tewari said in a statement laid in the Lok Sabha.

In response to another question, Tewari told the Lok Sabha that Doordarshan had earned Rs 865.7 million from the auction of slots on its direct-to-home (DTH) platform to free-to-air channels in the year 2011-12.