IT Secretary Ram Sewak Sharma has been appointed as the new Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman, according to official sources.

Sharma, an 1978 batch IAS officer, will be succeeding Rahul Khullar, who retired in May.

Khullar, before becoming TRAI chairman served as the commerce secretary. His predecessors in the regulator, established on February 20, 1997 to regulate telecom services including fixation or revision of tariffs for telecom services which were earlier vested in the central government, were J.S. Sarma, A.K. Sahney and Nripendra Misra.

One of the main objectives of TRAI is to provide a fair and transparent policy environment which promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition.