There are 11 Central regulatory authorities in the country related directly or indirectly to infrastructure sector and protection of consumer interests. These are listed below:
• Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA)
• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
• Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC)
• Competition Commission of India (CCI)
• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
• Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)
• Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (P&NGRB)
• Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA)
• Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERI)
• Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP)
• Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)
Regulatory authorities are quasi-judicial bodies which have the powers of a Civil Court for the purposes of inquiry or proceedings under the Act through which they were created by the Parliament.
A regulatory authority has the powers to impose penalty for non-compliance of its directions as well as powers to adjudicate the disputes.
Non Judicial powers of the regulatory authorities are to protect the interest of the people by ensuring fair competition, transparent and competitive markets and protecting consumers from exploitation.
During Budget speech (2015-16) Finance Minister stated that there is a lack of common approach and philosophy in the regulatory arrangements prevailing even within different sectors of infrastructure and proposed a regulatory reform law that will bring about a cogency of approach across various sectors of infrastructure.