TRAI, companies slug it out over tariffs
New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and mobile operators are headed for a collision course, with the regulator terming the hike in mobile and long-distance tariffs because of the imposition of access deficit charges unjustified. Although TRAI officials said mobile operators were free to set tariffs, they added that the regulator could intervene if it found the tariff hikes to be unreasonable.

TRAI member D P S Seth said: "We examined the IUC regime and have concluded that there are enough margins in the existing tariff structure for the operators to adjust the access deficit charge amount. To put the blame on ADC is a lame excuse given by cellular operators." Seth added that even in the long distance segment, the interconnect usage charges specified by TRAI had left scope for only a downward revision in tariffs instead of an increase.
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Rs 29,532 crore more tax raised in five years
New Delhi: The six budgets of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government presented between 1998-99 and 2003-04 have seen massive additional resource mobilisation of Rs 29,532 crore. The growth in revenue has, however, just about kept pace with higher government expenditure, says a report. The additional revenue mobilisation saw its peak in 2002-03 in Yashwant Sinha's budget with his new tax measures yielding a whopping Rs 10,500 crore. Even in previous years, Sinha has been raising handsome amounts of revenue - Rs 7,425 crore in 1998-99, Rs 9,334 crore in 1999-2000 and Rs 4,885 crore in 2000-01.

The only exception was in 2001-02 when his measures resulted in a revenue loss of Rs 2,951 crore. In comparison, Jaswant Singh raised only Rs 339 crore in his debut budget this fiscal which was marginally higher than what P Chidambaram mobilised in 1997-98. Revenue receipts have gone up 89.6 per cent from Rs 1,33,886 crore in 1997-98 (the year when Chidambaram presented his budget as finance minister in the United Front government) to Rs 2,53,935 crore budget estimate for 2003-04.
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