Rail tariff authority proposal sent back to Cabinet

The Ministry of Railways has sent back the proposal of setting up a Rail Tariff Authority (RTA) to the Cabinet. The Cabinet was scheduled to take up the matter on Wednesday. However, it was deferred, to be considered on a later date. “The matter was deferred because the minister could not be present today due to other priorities,” said a railway official who did not want to be named.

It is expected the matter would be taken in the next meeting.

As Business Standard had reported earlier, to set up an advisory body through an executive order would require a change in the cabinet order of August 1, 2013, on RTA. The proposal was sent back to change the provisions to  enable the setting up of an advisory body.

Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar has been repeatedly asserting that the RTA would be a 'strong' advisory body that would be set up through an executive order. But the August 2013 Cabinet order had provisions of setting up an RTA that would be 'regulatory' in nature.

Earlier, in a letter to the law ministry, the railway ministry had said that the Cabinet had approved setting up an RTA with full powers to fix and notify rates along with a draft amendment Bill seeking changes in the Railways Act, 1989.

The Planning Commission had been pushing for an RTA vested with full powers to “notify and fix tariffs”, according to senior officials at the Planning Commission. However, the railway ministry wanted to retain its power to take a last call on fixing tariffs and limit the role of RTA as an advisory body. After a round of consultation with the law ministry, the proposal was sent back to the Cabinet for change in the Cabinet order.

The Cabinet is likely to consider the proposal earlier this week.