Teletalk, BTCL ordered to clear Tk 3,000 crore dues

The telecom regulator has instructed Teletalk and Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited (BTCL) to clear their total dues of around Tk 3,000 crore as soon as possible.

Teletalk Bangladesh owes Tk 1,848.63 crore to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), including due payments of licence fee, revenue sharing and spectrum fees and payment to the social obligation fund.

The BTCL owes over Tk 1,100 crore to the telecom watchdog, which includes regulator's share of the revenue and different other fees.

The commission made the call in a meeting with the top officials of the two companies at the regulator's office in Dhaka today presided over by Musfiq Mannan Choudhury, commissioner for finance, accounts and revenue at the BTRC.

"It's the government revenue and they have to pay it," Choudhury told The Daily Star after the meeting.

He said the regulator is also initiating to conduct information system audit on Teletalk and BTCL later this month.

"We have asked them to share all of their information, which they always fail to do. They have agreed to provide their revenue information," Choudhury said.

The information system audit will help in determining the loopholes in the two organisations, he said.

"After the audit, we will be converting these loopholes into opportunity and ultimately turn them into profitable ventures."

Md Anwar Hossain, managing director (additional charge) at the BTCL, and AKM Habibur Rahman, managing director at Teletalk, attended today's meeting.