Answer:

Legislative oversight of regulators is considered necessary for ensuring regulatory independence, preventing arbitrary action by the government officials and as well as implementation of regulations consistent with government policies. In India, parliamentary scrutiny of the regulators takes place through the following means:

♤ Question Hour: Every regulator falls within the administrative domain of a government department. During question hour, MPs can ask questions to scrutinize the functioning of ministries and the regulators related to their departments.

♤ Discussions: Parliament may take up the role of regulators for debate under different Rules of Procedure of Parliament (such as half-hour discussions and discussions under Rule 193 in the Lok Sabha).

♤ Department related Standing Committees: There are 24 Department Related Standing Committees that comprise members from both Houses of Parliament. These committees are Ministry specific, and may review the working of regulators falling within their respective departments.

♤ Finance Committees: The Committee on Estimates reviews budgetary estimates of regulators. The annual audit reports on the accounts of the regulators are tabled before Parliament and reviewed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The PAC may require the regulator’s officers to depose before the Committee.

♤ Ad-hoc Committees: Parliament may establish ad-hoc committees which may examine the working of regulators.

At the same time, following major steps should be taken up for strengthening the parliamentary oversight of regulators:

♤ The 2nd administrative reforms committee (ARC) recommends that once in five years, a body of reputed experts should be constituted to propose guidelines for the evaluation of the regulator for the next five years based on which principles can be finalized to hold the regulator accountable.

♤ 2nd ARC also recommends that annual reports submitted by the regulators to Parliament should include the progress on pre-agreed evaluation parameters and should be discussed in the parliamentary committee.

♤ Annual report and the committee’s discussions with the regulator should be made

widely accessible to the public.

♤ Expert support should be provided to MPs as effective scrutiny depends on their skill and resources.

♤ Committees should conduct periodic review of regulators as ad-hoc scrutiny of the regulator is not adequate for effective oversight.