Non-payment of dues: GP, Robi to skip BTRC response

FT ONLINE

Network operators Grameenphone and Robi have decided not to respond to the showcause notice of the telecom regulator over the non-payment of Tk 134 billion dues found in an audit.

The deadline for replying to the notice of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission ends today (Sunday).

The two largest mobile phone operators with a combined subscriber of over 122 million said the notice is subjudice and stands invalid because they filed cases before the notice was served, challenging the audit claim.

The companies filed two separate cases with a Dhaka court, seeking permanent injunctions against the telecom regulator's audit claims of Tk 134.47 billion.

The cases were lodged on August 25 and 26 respectively.

On September 04, the commission served the notices to Grameenphone, majority controlled by the Norwegian Telenor Group, and Robi of Malaysian Axiata, asking the duo to respond in 30 days why their licences will not be cancelled for sidestepping the payment of arrears in revenue sharing, late fees and taxes.

The BTRC has been demanding of Tk 125.79 billion from Grameenphone and Tk 8.67 billion from Robi as per findings of the audits into the two operators' books between 1997 and 2014.

"Robi has filed a suit challenging the flawed audit findings. Therefore, an audit is a subjudice matter and any showcause is invalid," Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer at Robi Axiata Ltd said.

" … we can't provide further comment on this other than what we have already expressed, he said, questioning the rationale used to arrive at audit findings, which are full of "inconsistency" and irrationality. We've urged the Commission to resolve the dispute amicably or agree to participate in mediation or ADR (alternative dispute resolution) as laid down in our civil procedures," he added.

However, a BTRC commissioner said the missive is legal and valid.

"There is no court order that has barred us from taking any action. We'll go by what the law says," he said.

In a high-profile meeting last week presided over by finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, discussed the possibility of waiver of Tk 67.46 billion in late fees to end the ruckus that threatened to dent the country's image among foreign investors.

Post and telecommunication minister Mostofa Jabbar and BTRC chairman Jahurul Haque and National Board of Revenue chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan attended the meeting.

But the meeting yielded no breakthrough, according to a meeting source.

After an audit of the two mobile phone operators, the BTRC in 2016 claimed dues from GP, the largest mobile telephony firm, and Robi, the second-largest operator.

Of the total, the principal audit claim from Robi was Tk 3.15 billion and from Grameenphone was Tk 63.85 billion.

The operators contest the original claims found in audit conducted by the government.