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.