The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has imposed administrative fines totaling Tk8.682 crore on four mobile network operators after identifying 8,682 SIM cards allegedly used in illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) operations.
In separate notices issued on July 21 and signed by Deputy Director Sharmin Sultana, the telecom regulator imposed a fine of Tk10,000 for each identified SIM and instructed the operators to pay the penalties within 10 days.
According to the notices, the action followed joint enforcement drives by the BTRC and the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) in Chittagong and Comilla, where authorities detected illegal international call termination through mobile SIM cards.
Among the operators, Robi Axiata received the largest penalty.
The fines are as follows:
Robi Axiata: Tk5.935 crore for 5,935 SIMs
Banglalink: Tk1.882 crore for 1,882 SIMs
Teletalk: Tk68.10 lakh for 681 SIMs
Grameenphone: Tk18.40 lakh for 184 SIMs
The regulator said the operators had failed to take adequate measures to prevent their networks from being used for illegal VoIP activities, despite licence conditions requiring them to monitor and curb such misuse.
Illegal VoIP bypasses licensed international gateways by routing overseas calls through internet-based systems before terminating them on local mobile networks using SIM cards. Authorities say the practice deprives the government of legitimate revenue and facilitates fraud and other criminal activities.
The operators, however, questioned the BTRC's decision, arguing that most of the identified SIMs had already been detected and disconnected through their internal fraud management systems before the enforcement drives.
Robi's Chief Corporate and Regulatory Officer Barrister Sahed Alam said the company had yet to receive the official notice but was aware of the matter.
"We have not yet received any formal communication from the BTRC. However, based on the information available to us, more than 95% of the identified SIMs had already been disconnected from our network through our internal monitoring mechanisms," he said.
He added that Robi would engage with the regulator to clarify the situation once it received the official documents.
Head of Corporate Communications at Banglalink Touhid Ahmed said the operator believes the penalty should be reconsidered.
"Most of the identified SIMs had already been deactivated through our self-regulatory fraud detection system.
Therefore, we believe the administrative penalty does not accurately reflect the measures already taken by the operator," he said.
Banglalink said it would formally request the regulator to review the decision.
Grameenphone similarly questioned the rationale for holding operators solely responsible for customer misuse of SIM cards.
The company's Head of Communications Sharifuddin Ahmed Chowdhury said Grameenphone works closely with regulators and law enforcement agencies to combat telecom fraud.
"Operators remain committed to preventing illegal activities on their networks. However, responsibility should primarily rest with those who actually commit these crimes. Holding operators accountable for every instance of customer misuse may not be the most effective approach," he said.
State-owned Teletalk had not issued any official statement at the time of filing this report.
Telecommunications experts said operators are required under their licences to maintain effective monitoring systems capable of detecting suspicious traffic patterns and preventing illegal VoIP activities.
However, they noted that if operators can demonstrate the identified SIMs had already been permanently deactivated before the enforcement drives, those facts should be taken into account during the review process.
The latest enforcement action has also raised questions over the methodology used to determine operator liability.
Industry stakeholders said greater transparency is needed on whether the SIMs were active during the raids or had already been disconnected through operators' internal compliance systems.
Illegal VoIP has remained a persistent challenge for Bangladesh's telecom sector for years.
Authorities argue that bypassing licensed international gateways deprives the government of legitimate revenue, undermines licensed operators, and creates opportunities for cybercrime, financial fraud, and anonymous criminal communications.
The BTRC, NTMC and law enforcement agencies regularly conduct nationwide drives to dismantle illegal VoIP operations and seize related equipment.
The latest fines represent one of the regulator's most significant administrative actions against mobile operators over alleged failures to prevent SIM misuse.
Whether the BTRC maintains its decision or revises the penalties after reviewing the operators' explanations will likely shape future regulatory enforcement and industry compliance.
