GP broke with internal guideline for sponsorship
Grameenphone breached its internal guidelines in 11 of its 250 sponsorship agreements, including one with the police, said the mobile operator's parent company Telenor Group after an internal audit.
"They should never have been allocated in the first place. This is unacceptable," the Norwegian company said in a statement.
Telenor's internal audit uncovered unacceptable sponsorships in Grameenphone for the first time back in 2013. "The most serious breach concerned a sporting event related to the Bangladesh Armed Forces," Telenor said.
Subsequently, the Norwegian company put in place a new guideline for sponsorship agreements for Grameenphone as per the recommendation of the internal audit.
Another compliance review was carried out in 2016 and a new set of unacceptable sponsorships were detected.
The sponsorships were all approved by members of Grameenphone's management.
"Telenor is not satisfied that the measures taken after the 2013-audit did not prevent additional cases of unacceptable sponsorships," the statement said.
The audit uncovered, among others, the sponsorship of an anniversary and refurbishment of a canteen used by the Bangladesh Police and Rapid Action Battalion.
The latest audit found that Grameenphone continued to sponsor the same sporting event related to the Bangladesh Armed Forces as in 2013. An instruction was immediately given to Grameenphone to terminate all sponsorships of such kind with immediate effect, according to the statement.
The situation in Bangladesh is challenging and at times unpredictable regarding security, Telenor said.
Grameenphone has received support from local authorities, including local police and Rapid Action Battalion, to provide security for employees and property, according to the statement.
"Some deviations in the sponsorship approval process were uncovered during regular internal audits and have been fully addressed by the relevant internal functions within both Grameenphone and Telenor," a Grameenphone spokesman told The Daily Star.
"We are confident that the measures taken as a result of these findings will strengthen our internal processes while ensuring even stricter adherence to Grameenphone's policies," he added. Grameenphone is the largest mobile telecom operator in Bangladesh in terms of revenue, coverage and subscriber base.
Its shares on the Dhaka Stock Exchange closed at Tk 285.60 yesterday, up 0.4 percent from the previous night.
Telenor owns a 55.8 percent stake in Grameenphone, while Grameen Telecom owns 34.2 percent, and the general and institutional shareholders the remaining 10 percent.
The Norwegian government owns 54 percent of Telenor's stocks.
The telecom regulator, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, however, has come forward in Grameenphone's support.
BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood said he found no problem with the market leader's sponsorship arrangements. "Sponsorship is legal all over the world and I found no problem with it. You will see sponsorship across the globe and in return, companies get publicity."
Sponsorship and donation have become a part of the culture in Bangladesh as well as the rest of the world, he said, adding that sports clubs and some other organisations cannot run without sponsorship funds. Meanwhile, Telenor's operation in Thailand has also been embroiled in controversy.
Aftenposten, Norway's largest newspaper by circulation, reported that accountancy firm PwC has uncovered violations of Telenor's internal regulations at its Thai subsidiary DTAC.
The violations involved leasing agreements for base stations in Thailand in which the ownership of the property used for mobile phone towers and base stations was unclear.
The probe found that in some cases DTAC employees or their families owned the property that was leased to the operator for setting up the base stations.