Months after the Railways opened up the container train segment, many of the private operators have begun to demand a rail regulator on the lines of the Telephone Regulatory Authority of India, which principally deals with competition issues in the telecom sector. |
Rail Bhavan, however, is in no mood to concede power to an autonomous body. |
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At a meeting held here recently, attended by operators like JM Baxi & Co and Reliance Industries and Railway officials, the operators said they needed a regulator to ensure that the behemoth the Railways is did not dominate the business. |
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The Planning Commission had earlier asked the Railways to present a white paper on how a regulator could be set up but the ministry is yet to respond with any specific proposal. |
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According to a Railways official, the ministry has no proposals for setting up a regulator. |
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"The container segment accounts for only 3 per cent of our freight mix. So why should we make a special provision for setting up an independent regulator only for this segment when it accounts for so little in terms of revenue?" the official said. |
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Another official sought to make a distinction between the Railways and other ministries like telecom that have set up regulators. |
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"The Railways is the only ministry which presents a Budget in Parliament and almost every decision of the ministry is questioned and debated in the House. Setting up a regulator in the railway sector therefore will not be quite as simple as it is for other sectors," he said, indicating that a regulator might end up transgressing on the powers of Parliament. |
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Countries such as the United Kingdom have specialised railway regulating agencies that function outside the purview of the organisation that runs the railways. |
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The Office of the Rail Regulator is responsible for enforcing competition in the sector and also supervises the running of the rail network. |
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