Telecom Sector: Separate accounting statements mandatory
New Delhi: According to the `Reporting System on Accounting Separation Regulation, 2004' issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), it is now mandatory for telecom operators to submit the accounting statements separately for every service offered by them in each of the licensed areas.

This would help it to monitor and measure the financial performance of individual telecom products/network services and information about disaggregated costs to the level of network elements. It would also help in identification of cross-subsidisation practices in the industry, wherever these exist and investigate the cases of predatory pricing and anti-competitive conducts.

This regulation will be equally applicable to integrated players and companies holding unified access services licence (UASL). In other words, both Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), which do not have a system of account separation at present, will have to start separating them with immediate effect. The reporting period shall be the same as followed by the company for preparation of the annual financial accounts under sub section (4) of section 210 of the Companies Act, 1956.
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