Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal
The Telecommunications Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal, was established to adjudicate disputes and dispose of appeals with a view to protect the interests of service providers and consumers of the telecom sector and to promote and ensure orderly growth of the telecom sector.
History
The policy of liberalisation that was embarked by Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao in the 1990s helped the Indian Telecom sector to grow rapidly. The government gradually allowed the entry of the private sectors into telecom equipment manufacturing, value added services, radio paging and cellular mobile services. In 1994, the government formed the National Telecom Policy which helped to attract Foreign Direct Investments and domestic investments. The entry of private and international players resulted in need of independent regulatory body. As a result, The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India was established on 20 February 1997 by an act of parliament called "Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act 1997".The mission of TRAI was to create and nurture an environment which will enable quick growth of the telecommunication sector in the country. One of the major objective of TRAI is to provide a transparent policy environment. TRAI has regularly issued orders and directions on various subjects like tariff, interconnections, Direct To Home services and mobile number portability.
In 2000, the Vajpayee government constituted the Telecommunications Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal through an amendment of the 1997 act, through an ordinance. The primary objective of TDSAT's establishment was to release TRAI from adjudicatory and dispute settlement functions in order to strengthen the regulatory framework. Any dispute involving parties like licensor, licensee, service provider and consumers are resolved by TDSAT. Moreover, any direction, order or decision of TRAI can be challenged by appealing in TDSAT.
Organisation Structure
The TDSAT consists of a Chairperson and two Members., the Composition of the Tribunal is:
| Name | Designation |
| Justice Shiva Kirti Singh | Chairman |
| A K Bhargava | Member-I |
| Musharraf Husain | Registrar |
List of former Chairmen of TDSAT:
| Name | Tenure |
| Justice Suhas C. Sen | 29 May 2000 to 20 December 2002 |
| Justice D.P. Wadhwa | 1 January 2003 to 4 May 2005 |
| Justice N. Santosh Hegde | 27 June 2005 to 2 August 2006 |
| Justice Arun Kumar | 6 September 2006 to 5 September 2009 |
| Justice S. B. Sinha | 3 November 2009 to 2 November 2012 |
List of former Members of TDSAT:
| Name | Tenure |
| R.U.S. Prasad | 29 September 2000 to 28 September 2003 |
| P.R. Dasgupta | 3 October 2000 to 2 October 2003 |
| Vinod Vaish | 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2007 |
| Lt Gen D.P.Sehgal | 15 September 2004 to 14 September 2007 |
| Dr. J.S. Sarma | 28 July 2008 to 13 May 2009 |
| Govind Das Gaiha | 28 July 2008 to 28 July 2011 |
| Pramod Kumar Rastogi | 19 February 2010 to 18 February 2013 |