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BTRC asks Robi to pay Tk 500cr fine for name change

Abdullah Mamun
The telecom regulator has asked Robi to pay about Tk 500 crore in fines following an objection by the auditor general's office that the mobile operator had changed its name without informing the regulator.
However, Robi told Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, the regulator, that the audit authority's claim is "misplaced and based on misconceptions".
According to the audit objection, the mobile operator changed its name on May 15, 2009 from TM International (Bangladesh) Ltd to AXIATA (Bangladesh) Ltd and informed BTRC the following month.
The objection also said the regulator fined the operator Tk 3 lakh, although the fine should have been Tk 500 crore accordingto a telecom ordinance of 2008.
So the audit body suggested the regulator collect the remaining amountofTk499.97 crore from Robi.
However, the regulator fined RobiTk 3 lakh according to the telecom law of 2001, while the ordinance of 20 08 formed by the caretaker government suggested Tk 500 crore in fines for violatinglicenceconditions.
The telecom law was amended in 2010 and suggested fines up toTk300 crore forviolatinglicenceconditions.
However, Robi received the regulator's letter on October 14 thisyearand replied that "the auditing authority failed to appreciate that the change of name does not constitute violating the licence agreement."
"The licensing agreement did not contain any condition to the effect that a name change has to be approved by BTRC, since the change of company name is governed by the provisionsoftheCompaniesAct, 1994," Robi said in a letter.
The BTRC is a quasi-judicial body that fined Robi Tk 3 lakh and the audit body has no legal authority in this regard, the letter added.
"We believe the matter is closed."
Mahmudur Rahman, executive vice president of Robi, said, "The matter was sorted out many years ago. Why has it come up now?" "The issue came up when die current act was not in vogue," he added.
Sunil Kami Bose, chairman of BTRC, said die letter was sent to Robi following die audit objection.
Such kinds of letters were sent to all the telecom operators in response to many audit objections, he added.
Last year, the Post, Telegraph and Telephone Audit Directorate of the Comptroller and Auditor General (GAG) office began auditing BTRC and asked die telecom regulator to collect around Tk 4,376