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The telecom regulator on Sunday said the ongoing dispute with the country’s two leading mobile phone operators over Tk13,447.18 crore due to the government would not be solved through arbitration as laws did not permit it.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission on July 4 cut 30% internet capacity of Grameenphone and 15% of Robi Axiata Ltd.
After auditing the two companies, the regulator in 2016 had claimed Tk12,579.95 crore from market leader Grameenphone and Tk867.23 crore from the second largest operator Robi in taxes, and late fees that accumulated over the years.
“There is no such provision (arbitration) in the existing telecom laws. We made the claim after thorough audit, and they are not paying we partially cut their bandwidth capacity,’ said BTRC Chairman MD Jahirul Haque in a press conference at his office.
“We are open to discussion but the operators have to pay the dues,” he said.
He also said currently the Commission was observing the situation and after consulting with ministry and other authorities the next course of action would be determined.
“The partial cut in bandwidth capacity might put the subscribers into some trouble but we had to do it considering the greater good,” he added.
The BTRC chairman’s reaction came in response to a statement from the Grameenphone made earlier on the day where the company said the decision to cut bandwidth capacity was unlawful and shocking.
‘It was shocking,’ GP chief executive officer Michael Patrick Foley said in a press briefing at Pan Pacific Sonargaon on the day.
He said GP wanted arbitration to resolve the matter as going to court would prolong the matter and customer would suffer.
“The BTRC decision is also affecting the local bandwidth providers and other businesses,” he said.
He also requested the BTRC to withdraw the decision and came to a constructive arbitration process under the Arbitration Act 2001 to resolve the audit claims.
GP also officially sent a notice to BTRC seeking arbitration, he said.
Asked, Robi’s Chief Corporate and Regulatory Officer Shahed Alam said: “We believe arbitration is the best solution to resolve the disputed claims that came out of a fundamentally flawed audit process. There is a specific Act for Arbitration that can amicably solve the problem. With regards to the Telecom Act, nowhere it says that arbitration cannot be used to solve disputes,’ reads an e-mail reply of Robi.
‘Hence, we sincerely hope that BTRC will be interested in pursuing the arbitration process to settle the matter once and for all. Draconian measures like limiting the bandwidth usage of an operator can never serve the interest of the customers in enjoying the quality of service they deserve. BTRC has set an unprecedented example by resorting to such extreme measures to press home its demands based on audit that defies all rationale,’ it added.
The BTRC ran its first audit back in 2011 on GP, and found financial discrepancies amounting to Tk3,034 crore in the operator’s books from its inception in 1996 through to March 2011.
Grameenphone then disputed the appointment process of the auditing firm, and after a court ruling the BTRC in October 2015 appointed another firm, Toha Khan Zaman & Co., to run a new audit on GP’s books from its inception until June 2015.
In 2016, the BTRC appointed Masih Muhith Haque & Co to run an audit into the country’s second largest operator Robi from its inception in 1997 through to December 2015 for a fee of Tk7.82 crore.
The auditors had placed a claim of Tk1,251.68 crore, but the operator disputed the amount, and after a series of tripartite meetings the claim was lowered by about 45% to Tk867.24 crore.
source (DT)
