The telecom regulator is going to lodge a criminal case today against three owners of International Gateway (IGW) operator Bestec Telecom over non-payment of more than Tk130 crore in revenue shares and annual licence fees.
“We have made preparations to file a criminal case against the directors and owners of Bestec Telecom Ltd,” Md Abdus Samad, commissioner (legal) of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Toriqul Islam, chairman of Bestec Telecom, Enayet Kabir, managing director, and Md Mamunoor Rashid, director, will face the case to be filed with Gulshan police station, a BTRC source confirmed.
The BTRC yesterday also went to file a case under the Public Demands Recovery Act with Narayanganj district judge’s court to recover outstanding Tk91.5 crore from Kay Telecommunications Ltd, previously owned by ruling Awami League lawmaker Shamim Osman.
A number of sources at the commission however told the Dhaka Tribune that the BTRC lawyer had returned without filing the case “out of fear.”
Meanwhile, the government has once again extended time for Ratul Telecom Ltd to pay its dues of Tk96.5 crore.
Ratul Telecom, in which former LGRD state minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak’s daughter Syeda Amrin Rakhi has 50% shares and his wife Syeda Arzuman Banu has 20%, had so far been given five chances to pay its dues and the last time extension ended on May 31.
The BTRC decided to file a case against Ratul Telecom under the Public Demands Recovery Act this time but the government once again extended the time for the payment.
BTRC Commissioner Md Abdus Samad said their legal consultant firms had already recommended filing criminal cases against the defaulting IGWs.
According to sources, Bestec Telecom owes the BTRC Tk115.41 crore in revenue sharing, Tk7.5 crore in annual licence fees, Tk1.13 crore in VAT on licence fees, and Tk6.71 crore in fines for delaying the payment of fees. The telecom watchdog had earlier sued Bestec under the Public Demands Recovery Act, and two other IGWs – Vision Tel Ltd and Telex Ltd – over non-payment of Tk181 crore and Tk92.5 crore.
BTRC officials said the act was not enough to collect the dues. Bestec Telecom also faces a case filed by mobile phone operator Grameenphone over an outstanding worth Tk13.49 crore.
Telecommunication Minister Abdul Latif Siddique, Secretary Md Abubakar Siddique, BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose and Vice-Chairman Md Giashuddin Ahmed are all out of country and were not available for comments.