The incumbent and the former telecom minister have allegedly been giving preferential treatment to an IGW owned by family members of former state minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak by repeatedly extending time for paying around Tk100 crore of outstanding revenues to the BTRC.
At a meeting on April 15, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission decided to report to the government to cancel the licence of Ratul Telecom Ltd, an International Gateway (IGW) owned by Nanak’s daughter and wife. On the other hand, at the same meeting, the regulators gave the company a chance to pay the outstanding Tk96.79 crore with 15% late fees by May 31.
Even after Ratul Telecom failed to meet the deadline, it was given two more time extensions for paying its dues, reportedly based on recommendations by Telecom Minister Abdul Latif Siddique.
This, however, was not the first time Ratul Telecom had enjoyed preferential treatment from the uppermost tier of the government.
Earlier, former telecom minister Shahara Khatun allegedly violated the existing act and approved three instalments to the company for depositing their dues, but Ratul Telecom missed all three deadlines – on November 30 and December 31 last year and January 31 this year, sources said.
BTRC high-ups said according to the related act and guidelines, the ministers were not allowed to make recommendations over revenue collection from any telecom operator; while sources said the current and former cabinet members had pushed for additional time extensions for Ratul Telecom as one of their party leaders was involved with the company.
On the other hand, when asked about why preferential treatment was being given to this particular IGW, Telecom Minister Abdul Latif Siddique told the Dhaka Tribune that what he did regarding Ratul Telecom, he had done knowingly.
Requesting anonymity, a BTRC commissioner said: “We have nothing to do when the ministers make recommendations and want to favour a single company.”
However, seeking anonymity, a BTRC spokesperson told the Dhaka Tribune: “This is the last time we are extending the deadline for Ratul Telecom to pay their dues. If they fail to pay, the BTRC will go for tougher action.”
In a letter to the BTRC in June, Ratul Telecom said it was unable to pay the government share as it could not collect money from its international carriers because of the “recent prolonged political uncertainty in the country.”
Earlier in February, the BTRC served a notice to Ratul Telecom about not giving them more time, and prepared to file a criminal case and another case under Public Demands Recovery Act, while later in the month, the regulators decided to file a case under telecom act section 73/2, which may result in a maximum of five years’ imprisonment or Tk300 crore fine or both.
However, all initiatives stopped when the new telecom minister reportedly gave them another chance.
Ratul Telecom, 50% of which is owned by Nanak’s daughter Syeda Amrin Rakhi and 20% by Nanak’s wife Syeda Arzuman Banu, started operations as an IGW in October 2012 and went out of operation in August 2013 when BTRC blocked them for not paying the outstanding revenue sharing.
During the less than a year of operations, BTRC’s receivable amount from Ratul Telecom stood at Tk138.35 crore, of which they have paid only Tk49.06 crore so far. Adding annual license fees and late fees, the total payable amount might exceed Tk100 crore, said sources in BTRC.
According to the IGW guideline, the companies can earn $0.03 per minute against incoming international calls. The operators are required to pay 51.75% of revenue to the telecom regulator along with 20% to mobile or land phone operators.
Although Ratul Telecom was allowed several time extensions, four other IGWs – Telex Ltd, Vision Tel Ltd, Bestec Telecom Limited, and Kay Telecommunications Ltd – are facing cases for similar offences of failing to share revenues on time, said BTRC sources.
While the government continues to delay its action against Ratul Telecom, Grameenphone Ltd has already filed a case against it for outstanding revenue amounting to Tk12.39 crore.
Sources in two other telecom operators said they were also preparing to file cases against Ratul Telecom.
