The High Court on Wednesday issued a rule asking the authorities concerned why Nagad's mobile banking operations with a temporary approval from the Bangladesh Bank should not be declared illegal.
The bench of Justice Md Mojibur Rahman Miah and Justice Kazi Mohammad Izarul Haque Akand issued the rule after hearing of a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyers Md Abu Bakkar Siddik and Mohammad Hasan Uz Zaman.
The finance secretary and others concerned were asked to respond to the rule within the next four weeks.
The Bangladesh Bank governor, the director general of the Payment System Department of BB, the director general of Bangladesh Post and the managing director of Nagad Limited were also made respondents to the rule.
Advocate Kamal Hossain Miyaji stood on behalf of the writ while Deputy Attorney General Arvind Kumar Roy and Assistant Attorney General Mohammad Abbas Uddin represented the state.
The court issued the rule as Nagad has no authority to run mobile banking operations under the law, said petitioner Hasan Uz Zaman.
Under the Mobile Financial Services Regulation, 2022, only the banks, financial institutions or government institutions can apply to BB to run mobile banking functions, but Nagad has got approval from BB to operate mobile banking functions in violation of the regulation.
In this regard, Nagad said it has a clear agreement with the postal department. Under the agreement, Nagad has been giving 51% of its revenue every year to the department on a regular basis.
It is to be mentioned that Nagad handed over 51% of its revenue of the fiscal year 2021-22 to the postal department on Wednesday.
On October 27, the writ was filed challenging the validity of Nagad's mobile banking operations with a temporary licence.
