Banglalink yet to refund users of unapproved package: BTRC

Banglalink is yet to refund a large chunk of the Tk 9.35 crore it earned from the unapproved Nababi Call Rate package it ran in 2011, having properly disbursed Tk 4.40 crore of the amount till date, the telecom regulator said. 

The flat-tariff package collected Tk 4 from subscribers daily, violating the telecom act, said officials of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

On August 2 in 2011, the regulator asked Banglalink to stop the offer, but the operator continued the package, according to documents.

On August 23, 2012, the BTRC in a notice claimed that Banglalink had earned some Tk 92.33 crore from late implementation of the regulator's directive to discontinue the service.

However, the operator in March 2015 clarified that it earned about Tk 9.35 crore from the offer, after which the regulator directed it to pay back the money to subscribers.

The BTRC also fined Banglalink Tk 10 lakh for violating the telecom act.

The operator said they have refunded all subscribers who used the package.

Some of the money could not be repaid as many subscribers have left the operator, and many others have been blocked for using voice over internet protocol services illegally, Banglalink said in a statement.

So far, 3.94 lakh customers of Banglalink have used refunds of the Tk 4.40 crore, a BTRC team has found during a visit to the office of the operator last week.

Many of the customers that did receive refunds could not, for the most part, utilise the money, as the operator put a time constraint on its usage and did not inform the recipients barring a notice on its website, the regulator said.

Subscribers who received less than Tk 50 in refund had just seven days to use it. Those with Tk 51 to Tk 200 got ten days, and those between Tk 201 and Tk 300 received 20 days to utilise the refunds.

"Nevertheless, a total of Tk 1.41 crore could not be refunded to the subscribers as those subscribers are still barred due to illegal activity like VoIP as per the instruction of the BTRC and law enforcers," Banglalink said in the statement.

The regulator said the operator could not refund money to about one lakh subscribers as they remain blocked for using illegal VoIP.

However, the connections that were inactive at the time of the refund are not aware of the payback, the telecom watchdog said.

"Due to various reasons, like the customers being inactive, only 55 percent of the refunds were utilised by subscribers," Banglalink said.

"Banglalink has sought BTRC's approval to continue the refund process several times, but is yet to receive confirmation," the operator said.