Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal

Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT)
Established 2000
Country India
Location TDSAT, 3rd Floor Hotel Samrat, Kautilya Marg, Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi - 110 021
Composition method Appointments made by the Govt of India[1]
Authorized by Created by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 Amendment 2000[2]
Decisions are appealed to Supreme Court of India
Judge term length 3 years[1]
Number of positions 3[2]
Website Official website
Currently Justice Aftab Alam

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), (Hindi: दूरसंचार विवाद एवं अपील अधिकरण) was established to adjudicate disputes and dispose of appeals with a view to protect the interests of service providers and consumers of the telecom sector and to promote and ensure orderly growth of the telecom sector.[1][2]

History

The policy of liberalisation that was embarked by Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao in the 1990s helped the Indian Telecom sector to grow rapidly. The government gradually allowed the entry of the private sectors into telecom equipment manufacturing, value added services, radio paging and cellular mobile services. In 1994, the government formed the National Telecom Policy (NTP) which helped to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and domestic investments. The entry of private and international players resulted in need of independent regulatory body. As a result, The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was established on 20 February 1997 by an act of parliament called "Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act 1997".

The mission of TRAI was to create and nurture an environment which will enable quick growth of the telecommunication sector in the country. One of the major objective of TRAI is to provide a transparent policy environment. TRAI has regularly issued orders and directions on various subjects like tariff, interconnections, Direct To Home (DTH) services and mobile number portability.

In 2000, the Vajpayee government constituted the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) through an amendment of the 1997 act,[2] through an ordinance. The primary objective of TDSAT's establishment was to release TRAI from adjudicatory and dispute settlement functions in order to strengthen the regulatory framework. Any dispute involving parties like licensor, licensee, service provider and consumers are resolved by TDSAT. Moreover, any direction, order or decision of TRAI can be challenged by appealing in TDSAT.[3]

Organisation Structure

The TDSAT consists of a Chairperson and two Members.

As of December 2015, the Chairperson and Members are:

Name Designation
Justice Aftab Alam Chairman
Kuldip Singh Member-I
Bipin Bihari Srivastava Member-II

List of former Chairmen of TDSAT:

Name Tenure
Justice Suhas C. Sen 29.05.2000 to 20.12.2002
Justice D.P. Wadhwa 01.01.2003 to 04.05.2005
Justice N. Santosh Hegde 27.06.2005 to 02.08.2006
Justice Arun Kumar 06.09.2006 to 05.09.2009
Justice S. B. Sinha 03.11.2009 to 02.11.2012

List of former Members of TDSAT:

Name Tenure
R.U.S. Prasad 29.09.2000 to 28.09.2003
P.R. Dasgupta 03.10.2000 to 2.10.2003
Vinod Vaish 1.04.2004 to 31.03.2007
Lt Gen D.P.Sehgal 15.09.2004 to 14.09.2007
Dr. J.S. Sarma 28.07.2008 to 13.05.2009
Govind Das Gaiha 28.07.2008 to 28.07.2011
Pramod Kumar Rastogi 19.02.2010 to 18.02.2013

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "TRAI Act" (PDF). Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "TDSAT - profile". Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  3. ↑ "Department of Telecommunications Ministry of Communications & IT".
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