People's Democracy

CPI(M) Demands Dismissal of TRAI Chairman

NILOTPAL Basu, leader of the CPI(M) in Rajya Sabha, has demanded the immediate dismissal of the chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Pradip Baijlal, for his involvement in a scam of about Rs 2000 crore in the telecom sector. A comprehensive enquiry by a competent authority has also been demanded to look into the matter of illegal international call rerouting by private service providers, particularly Reliance Infocomm. The private operators have been rerouting the incoming long distance international calls and long distance national calls through unidentified channels to evade paying the Access Deficit Charge (ADC), which they are supposed to pay to the government.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Nilotpal Basu explained the grave implications of this illegal act which was being perpetrated by private service providers. The goal, stated in the UPA government’s Common Minimum Programme (CMP), of reducing the tele-density gap between urban and rural areas will be hampered because of this revenue loss suffered by the government, he said. Moreover, it has got serious implications for our national security since the calls are coming from unidentified, unknown origins.

Nilotpal Basu further alleged a brazen violation of the Telephone Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997. The Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited has mentioned in its Annual Report 2003-04 that TRAI’s ADC (Access Deficit Charge) order is responsible for the existence of the gray market, its size being approximately 30-40 per cent of the total ILD (International Long Distance) market, which amounts to almost Rs 2000 crore annually. Basu charged the TRAI chairman of acting in a fraudulent manner and in criminal connivance with private operators in the unholy game and demanded his summary dismissal. Demanding a thorough probe into the scam, Basu also demanded that the offence should be considered non-bailable since it involved money laundering, depriving the country of foreign exchange. If the probe established the abetting of the business of gray traffic by an authorised operator, the license should be terminated forever, he said.

(INN)