Telecom regulator might remain headless for weeks

Several layers of vetting needed on final recommendations

Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, who heads the search committee for recommending a name as chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), had formal interactions with contenders for the post on Thursday. However, the selection process is likely to take time.

Although current Trai chief Rahul Khullar retires on Wednesday, the authority could remain headless for anything from a few weeks to about two months, sources said. The candidates will have to go through a great deal of scrutiny by several agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). Even the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) will vet the candidates, making the process lengthy.

Under the current government, many statutory organisations such as the CVC and the Central Information Commission have functioned without a chief for months.

A K Jyoti, former chief secretary, Gujarat, is being appointed new election commissioner. The Election Commission remained without top appointments for some time. The Enforcement Directorate is another example of a critical investigative organisation not getting a regular director for many months.

While it's not unusual for key appointments to take time, the government is not expected to keep statutory organisations headless even for a day, according to an official. The controversial net neutrality debate might quicken selection of a Trai chief, he said.

For the Trai chairman's position, inputs are learnt to have come from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) as well. It might have helped that the principal secretary at the PMO, Nripendra Misra, was Trai chairman after he retired as telecom secretary. A top official noted that important appointments such as Trai chief are mostly done in consultation with the PMO. While the search committee's recommendation is usually accepted, it is not binding. The minister concerned, in this case Ravi Shankar Prasad, will have the final say.

The top name doing the rounds for the post of Trai chairman is Ram Sewak Sharma, secretary, ministry of communications and information technology. Set to retire in September, Sharma, a 1978-batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre, is being seen as a probable choice because of his familiarity with the telecom and information technology sector. Sharma, who's one of the 37 government secretaries retiring this year, had worked closely with Nandan Nilekani on the Aadhaar card project. Among others shortlisted for the post of Trai chairman are Defence Secretary Radha Krishna Mathur, Information & Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka, Power Secretary P K Sinha, Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher, former telecom secretary M F Farooqui, and former Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Subir Gokarn.

Even as Mathur, Julka and Sinha were seen as strong contenders for the post, the government could be having other plans for these officials. Mathur, a Manipur-Tripura cadre IAS officer of the 1977 batch, could be considered for Central Vigilance Commissioner.

Julka, a 1979-batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer, could move as defence secretary, a source said. Sinha, a Uttar Pradesh cadre officer of the 1977 batch, might be a better choice for cabinet secretary. Current Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth retires in June, after three extensions.

Khullar, a 1975-batch UT (union territory) cadre IAS officer, took over as Trai chairman on May 14, 2012, after taking voluntary retirement from the government when he was serving as the commerce secretary. He had succeeded J S Sarma as the Trai chief. The tenure of Trai chairman is for three years or till the age of 65 years.

Khullar's tenure has been controversial because of some recommendations made by Trai. He gave recommendations on spectrum pricing for 900-, 1,800- and 2,100-MHz bands, though the department of telcom increased the reserve price from what the regulator had suggested. Also, he brought down interconnection usage charges, which led to lower call rates. Besides, he was instrumental in bringing down roaming call tariffs after reducing ceiling charges for telecom players. More recently, Trai came under criticism for floating a consultation paper on regulatory framework for OTT (over-the-top) players. Not only did it receive over a million comments on this paper, the Trai website was even hacked by anonymous hackers over the same.