Trai orders to stop ''perverse'' practice of RWAs charging telecom operators


By MYBRANDBOOK


Trai orders to stop ''perverse'' practice of RWAs charging telecom operators

Regulator Trai came down heavily on the "perverse" practice of RWAs charging telecom operators for allowing entry into housing complexes and colonies and said it would like to see connectivity infrastructure a pre-condition for granting completion certificates for such multi-story buildings.

 

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman R S Sharma said that while unfettered access to buildings and complexes is given for providing electricity and water, there is an "aberration" in extending a similar treatment for communications infrastructure.

 

The regulator is engaging with the Urban Development Ministry on the issue, he informed.

 

"We find a trend where builders, actually Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), are charging money from telecom service providers to allow them to enter premises”, Sharma said. This needs to be stopped, Sharma continued.

 

"I don't know what kind of system this is. Telecom service providers are providing service in a non-discriminatory manner, they are not charging any premium to those who are living in these complexes, they are providing a service, but they are being told you are not allowed. You have to pay certain amount," the Trai chairman said during an Assocham webinar on 'Digital: The next revolution'.

 

Flagging the "perverse" arrangement, Sharma said these "aberrations" have happened over a period of time because people did not realise that connectivity infrastructure is as important as water pipes or electricity or provision of other common infrastructure.

 

"There is no such provision for telecom infrastructure... as a pre-condition for giving the completion certificates. The Ministry of Urban Development has been very positive, we are going to have this discussion and we are going to ensure that we incorporate in the national building code a separate chapter for prescribing, similar to electricity architecture etc, a specification on treatment of communication infrastructure," Sharma said.

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