Governance, GS 2, TLP-UPSC Mains Answer Writing
1. What role do agencies like SEBI and TRAI have in ensuring the welfare of citizens? Analyse. (10 Marks)
नागरिकों के कल्याण को सुनिश्चित करने में सेबी और ट्राई जैसी एजेंसियों की क्या भूमिका है? विश्लेषण करें।
Approach-
Candidates need to write about the regulating bodies in India in introduction and then analyse the role of the SEBI and TRAI as regulating bodies ensuring the welfare of citizens.
Introduction
In India, the different markets are regulated with the help of independent regulators, associated with the field of insurance, banking, pension funds, security market. Over a period of time post 1990 number of regulatory bodies, ranging from RBI, SEBI, IRDA, PFRDA to TRAI, electricity regulators, CCI, FDA have been set up in India.
Body
Ensuring welfare of citizens:
- Control Fraud: Market regulators put systems in place to prevent fraud as financial customers aren’t always sophisticated enough to do so themselves.
- Promote Fairness: Regulators aim to reduce profits that insiders could extract from the markets. Laws against insider trading, for instance, help to level the playing field. E.g. In India, SEBI under the “SEBI (Insider Trading) Regulation, 1992” intends to curb and prevent the menace of insider trading in securities.
- Regulators have been empowered to set the policy agenda, outline regulations, punish non-compliance and garner resources to manage their affairs to benefit of citizens.
- SEBI overlook the registration and regulation of working of market intermediaries such as merchant bankers, portfolio managers, stock broker etc. So that common shareholders can attain open and fair market.
- TRAI aims to provide a fair and transparent policy environment which promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition.
- TRAI Protect consumers’ interest, monitor quality of services, inspect equipment used in networks and make recommendations about such equipment.
- In order to increase broadband penetration in India, TRAI has proposed WANI (Wi-Fi Access Network Interface) architecture. If implemented, it may lead to set up of Public Data Offices (PDOs) where Wi-FI Internet would be available to common people at demand.
Conclusion
Regulatory bodies have played a very crucial role in post liberalization era to have a level playing field and thereby contributed in the sector specific growth by ensuring fairness and equity. But, over the period of time new challenges emerged. Hence, to tackle these challenges regulatory bodies need to be empowered to ensure fairness and equity in different markets.
