Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad had constituted a committee chaired by Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan to spell out revival plans for
Telecom sector. The committee headed by Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan would submit its
report in 2 weeks’ time.
Aruna Sundararajan is India’s Telecom Secretary and Chairman of the Telecom
Commission. Aruna Sundararajan Committee will look into the
entire issue of removing ambiguities in ease of doing business and also to
revisit the whole issue of SUC.
Committee’s purpose:
The committee will review levies, including spectrum
usage charge (SUC), and promote Ease of Doing Business (EDB) in telecom
sector. Reduction of levies and fees, as licence fee, SUC and universal
service levy, has been a long-standing demand of Telecom industry. In case
of any issues which require clarity, committee has been directed to seek views
of Solicitor General. Committee would also look into previous recommendations
provided by sectoral regulator TRAI (Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India) on the issue. The Government of
India is also looking into revival plan for state-owned BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) and MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam
Limited).
