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State-run telco owes regulator Tk 1,280cr

Abdullah Mamun
The telecom regulator says state-owned mobile operator BTCL has failed to pay Tk 1,280.88 crore in revenue that the company was supposed to share with the government in the last three years.
According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the company did not pay the money even after several reminders.
BTRC Chairman Zia Ahmed said the operator, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL), is not paying the dues that now stand at more thanTk 1,200 crore.
“They (BTCL) are getting interest keeping the money in several banks,” Ahmed said, adding that other private operators are paying their revenue sharing money regularly.
An official of BTRC said they gave reminders to the state-owned operator through letters on several occa-
sions but it did not respond.
The official said the dues are basically revenue sharing money from the income of the operator's international gateway (IGW), inter connection exchange (ICX) and international internet gateway (IIG) charges from the third quarter of2008.
The company also has to share its revenue with the government as a telecom operator.
Sunil Kanti Bose, telecom secretary and also the chairman of BTCL, said: “It's true that there is a huge amount of dues but the amount may differ from the regulator's claim.”
BTCL has paid some amount in the last few years and it will make a payment this year too, Bose said.
He said the BTCL officials could not collect huge outstanding money from international careers who terminate international calls from one operator to another and work as a medium.
The BTCL board has given three
months' time to its officials to collect the money, otherwise it will file case against the careers, said the chairman.
Md Azizul Islam, acting managing director and also a member of planning and development of the telecom operator, said a committee has been formed to work out the exact dues.
The committee will examine the company's call records and will inform the regulator of the amount it finds, Islam said.
He also said BTCL has deposited Tk 700 crore to the regulator in the last three years as revenue sharing money. However, according to the regulator's claim, the total amount to be paid for three years would be Tk 1,980 crore.
BTCL is trying to collect its payment from the international careers, Islam said.
“We are continuously reminding them about paying the money," said the acting MD.