Telecommunication Minister Shahara Khatun has requested the BTRC to slash the annual licence fees for the international gateway (IGW) operators from Tk75m to Tk25m, which will incur a yearly revenue loss of Tk1.45bn.
She has also allowed five IGWs to pay their fees in instalments, which is not allowed in the rules of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
A number of officials at the regulator confirmed the Dhaka Tribune that Shahara had requested them to cut the annual licence fee and that they were now changing the commission’s guideline to that end.
They said the change might come into effect after the 3G auction on September 8.
“According to the telecom act, the minister does not have any authority to make decisions or cannot make any request related to financial issues. The minister cannot request the regulator for payment of annual licence fees in instalments,” a high official at the BTRC’s legal and licensing wing told the Dhaka Tribune.
When contacted, Shahara Khatun told the Dhaka Tribune on Wednesday: “Technology is changing frequently and we need to review our guidelines to adapt to those changes. At the same time, we need to take care of the operators’ business.
“If I need to do anything for them, I can assure I will do it as per the law,” she said.
Shahara made the request to the BTRC after a meeting with Health Minister Dr AFM Ruhul Haq and State Minister for Local Government Jahangir Kabir Nanak at her office on Monday.
An official at the BTRC said only eight of the IGW operators had paid their full annual licence fees of Tk75m each. Five IGWs, which the official said were backed by politically powerful people, had paid partial fees “upon recommendations of instalments from the telecom minister” against the law.
The last date for renewing the IGW licences was April 11, but Shahara extended the time for two months although she did not have the authority to do so. The BTRC guideline gives a defaulting operator two months to pay the amount with late fees.
All deadlines expired on August 11.
A BTRC official said representatives from five IGWs had met the telecom minister and persuaded her to allow them to pay their fees in three instalments.
The IGWs are: Mos5 Tel Limited, which is owned by the son of Health Minister Dr AFM Ruhul Haq; Sigma Engineers Limited, owned by a senior leader of the Awami League; Digicon Telecommunication Limited, owned by a lawmaker who is also a relative of the prime minister; Cel Telecom Limited and Global Voice Telecom Limited.
When contacted, the two commissioners of the BTRC disagreed to make any comments on the matter.
According to the BTRC guideline, the regulator has to serve a show-cause notice on an IGW if it fails to pay its licence fee on time and cancel the licence after serving two such notices.
The BTRC has served the first notice on a few IGW and ICX operators.
