Trai chairman SS Sodhi said the Government had no locus standi on the issue. "The tariff-setting function lies exclusively within Trai jurisdiction, and has been discharged in the most transparent manner after detailed consultations with all MPs and the department of telecommunications (DoT)," he said. Parliament has given the regulatory authority powers to determine tariffs, he added.

Maintaining that the directive issued by the Government has "undermined the credibility of Trai", Sodhi cautioned that "this will affect the investors' confidence and, in turn, foreign direct and domestic investments". "The ball is now in the Government's court," he added.

Trai has also requested the Government to "enlighten" it on whether the policy directive was issued by invoking powers under sub-section 1 or sub-section 2 of Section 25 ofthe Trai Act. The act vests the Government with sweeping powers to issue directions to the regulatory authority.

Sodhi said that if the directive was issued under sub-section 1 then the Government should notify the particular aspect--sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order decency or morality--under which it has intervened.

If the directive has been issued under sub-section 2, Sodhi said that prior mandatory consultations ought to have taken place since the order has to be implemented only from April 1, 1999.

Trai has despatched a letter in this regard to the Telecom Commission chairman Anil Kumar to understand the purpose, scope and nature of the Government's directive, Sodhi said.

According to him, the Government has also been requested to share with Trai the nature of the policy questions covered by the directive in the context of the tariff-rebalancing exercise being undertaken.

The letter says that related policyaspects, namely low user concerns, and differential treatment to rural and urban subscribers, are based on consultations with the MPs and DoT. The authority had come out with its order in the best interests of the country, he added. Dismissing claims that the tariffs announced by Trai were anti-poor, Sodhi said that the authority had based its order on data supplied by DoT.

Meanwhile, consumer-interest groups have joined the growing chorus of voices against the Trai order. The Delhi Science Forum has said that the decision to revise tariffs for the small user by more than 30 per cent will adversely affect the already low teledensity in the country. "The tariff revisions will help defaulting private operators in basic services and the big corporate houses with enormous long-distance bills, and weigh heavily against the small user of the network," says a forum release.

"The so-called consultative process followed by Trai gave small users and consumer organisations just 15 minutes in public hearings, whileextensive consultations were held with the private operators," they say. The release adds that it is no surprise that the final tariffs are being hailed by big business and criticised by consumers.