The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Senior Research Officer of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹1 lakh from a complainant.
The CBI registered the case on January 1, 2025, following allegations that the accused officer demanded the bribe from a cable service operator licensed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), Government of India. The complainant, based in Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, was reportedly acting on behalf of five other licensed cable operators in the state.
The bribe was allegedly sought to ensure favorable assessments of the operators’ regulatory documents, including Quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports already submitted and to be submitted in the future. The accused officer also allegedly threatened to recommend the cancellation of their licenses to the Ministry of I&B if discrepancies were found in the reports.
According to TRAI guidelines, cable operators are required to submit Quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports to the designated officer for review. The accused officer held the authority to accept the reports or recommend license cancellations in case of non-compliance.
Acting on the complaint, the CBI set a trap and caught the officer red-handed while accepting the bribe at his office in Naroji Nagar, New Delhi.
Subsequent searches conducted by the CBI at the officer’s residential and official premises in Greater Noida and New Delhi led to the recovery of incriminating documents.
The investigation is ongoing, and the CBI is examining the recovered materials to uncover further details about the case.
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