GP faces fresh audit
The telecom regulator yesterday hired a chartered accountant to run a fresh audit into mobile phone operator Grameenphone.
Auditors will soon visit the Grameenphone office to look into various financial and technical issues, said officials of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
"Auditors will look into the billing system and cross check data with their taxation figure, actual subscriber numbers, airtime figures and some other issues," said a BTRC official close to the matter.
Ashis Kumar Kundu, finance director of BTRC, and Nasir Ahmed, director of Toha Khan Zaman & Co Chartered Accountants, the audit company, signed a deal yesterday.
The BTRC had Grameenphone audited in 2011 by a firm that claimed the telecom company owed Tk 3,034 crore to the government.
Grameenphone later took the matter to court to challenge the audit process, which has not been settled yet.
Officials said Toha Khan Zaman & Co Chartered Accountants will audit reports of the company since its inception in 1997 up to June this year, and they will get Tk 8.79 crore from BTRC for the job.
The audit company will have to start the process within 14 days of signing the deal and needs to complete it within 180 days.
The BTRC may sign another deal with Masih Muhith Haque & Co Chartered Accountants to run an audit into Robi by next week at a cost of Tk 7.82 crore.
Officials from both the operators said they have no problems with the audit, but are curious as to why only these two operators were chosen.
The regulator informed the government that it allocated Tk 40.88 crore for audits into different mobile operators for the current fiscal year. Once the audits into Grameenphone and Robi are done, the regulator will initiate similar initiatives for other operators.
An attempt in 2011 to inspect Banglalink failed as the appointed auditor could not finish the job.
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