BTCL, Teletalk dues remain unpaid despite reminders
The telecom regulator has failed to realise Tk 3,440.19 crore in dues from two state-owned companies despite several attempts.
As of June, Bangladesh Telecommuni-cations Company Ltd (BTCL) owes Tk 1,830.10 crore and Teletalk Tk 1,610.09 crore to the regulator.
If late fees are added, the figures will rise even higher, said an official of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
BTCL has not been sharing its revenue with the government since October 2008, while Teletalk did not clear its spectrum prices of Tk 1,585.13 crore, though it has been using the spectrum from June 2012, the official said.
BTRC recently discussed the issue at a meeting and decided to reinform Tarana Halim, the state minister for telecom, of the matter and seek her intervention.
Teletalk and BTCL always enjoy some privileges from the regulator, said another BTRC official.
“As the regulator we are always strict with private operators in matters of collecting revenues, but we always take a soft stance on the issues of the state operators,” the official said, asking not to be named.
BTRC often imposes penalties on operators, shuts their operations or cancels licences and files cases against them, if they fail to pay dues, he said.
But the regulator never takes any action against Teletalk and BTCL, said the official.
Besides spectrum fees, Teletalk, the lone state-owned mobile operator, has never contributed any amount to the social obligation fund since its inception in 2011. Its dues in the segment amounted to Tk 24.96 crore, according to BTRC. In addition to being a public switched telephone network (PSTN) operator, BTCL has licences to act as an international gateway (IGW) operator, interconnection exchange (ICX) operator, and international internet gateway (IIG) operator.
BTCL has dues worth Tk 1,046.92 crore as an IGW operator, Tk 526.81 crore as ICX operator, Tk 255.55 crore as PSTN operator and Tk 0.82 crore as IIG operator, BTRC officials said. Although the regulator on several occasions asked the operator to pay the dues, BTCL did not take any effective step in this regard, they said.
Telecom Secretary Md Faizur Rahman Chowdhury, who is also the chairman of both Teletalk and BTCL, said they will look into the issue after getting the letter from the BTRC. Earlier in October last year, BTRC sent a letter to Tarana, requesting her to intervene in the matter.
In response to the BTRC request, the telecom ministry in the same month asked the BTCL to pay the dues but the operator is yet to comply with the order.
The act of disregarding the ministry order will create problems for the industry, BTRC officials said.
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