Montek favours regulator for core sector

Favouring independent regulators for railways and road sector, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday stressed on the need for proper policy framework defining the role of these monitors.

"There should be much greater clarity in government policies as to what is expected of the regulators," he said at a seminar on 'Regulatory Framework for Infrastructure Sector in India', organised by CUTS Centre for Consumer Action.

The policies should also outline the extent to which public sector undertakings should be subjected to competition taking into account their social role, he said adding this involved the issue of transparency.

Lack of clarity reflected lack of due diligence and consensus at political levels, he said. "The regulators should have a well-defined policy framework which has to have wide political support in the public, and it should also be reflected in the legislature," he said.

Referring to the difference of views between the Commission and the railways ministry on appointing an independent regulator for the sector to address the issue of cross subsidy, he said "we ought to have a railway tariff authority which would ensure transparency, that consumers are charged reasonable costs and that cross subsidies are not arbitrarily built in".

Ahluwalia said though there was enormous resistance to having regulators to discipline and restrict both PSUs and the private sector from exploiting consumers, they were imperative with the economy opening up further.