BTRC, GP now see solution in talks as the operator pays another Tk 1,000cr
Officials of Grameenphone and the telecom regulator will meet soon to work out an amicable solution to the ongoing tussle over an audit claim, according to Md Jahurul Haque, chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
Grameenphone's CEO Yasir Azman said these were not on the same page with the regulator over the sum of money claimed in the BTRC audit but there was still much scope to locate a way to avoid it by sitting at the negotiating table.
Both made the remarks while briefing journalists after the top mobile phone operator deposited another Tk 1,000 crore to the BTRC yesterday according to an order of the apex court.
Earlier on February 23, Grameenphone had handed in Tk 1,000 crore to the regulator following a Appellate Division's order to pay the amount within February 24.
"We want dialogue and so we can progress," Azman said.
As the operator has complied with the order of the apex court, the telecom regulator is now able to sit with them in occurrence of representatives from the finance division of the government to find a solution, Haque said.
"If there were any flaws in the audit, we can fix them," he said, adding that measures are underway to audit the other operators within a short time.
Earlier, the telecom regulator through two separate audits discovered that the market leader owed it Tk 12,579.96 crore and Robi, the second-largest operator, Tk 867.23 crore.
The audits that investigated the accounts of Grameenphone and Robi since their inception in 1997 until 2014 claimed that the carriers owed the amounts in income shares, taxes and late fees.
On November 24 last year, the Supreme Court ordered Grameenphone to provide the BTRC Tk 2,000 crore by February 23 this season as an advance payment against the overall claim.
In January, the operator expressed its intention to the court to pay Tk 575 crore in 12 equal instalments however the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court turned down the plea.
The court asked Robi to pay Tk 138 crore in five instalments against the total claim and the operator will deposit the last instalment of Tk 27.60 crore by May 31.
Replying to a query of the journalists, the BTRC chairman said these were not 'extorting' anyone by dint of regulations.
At a press briefing on November 11 last year, Grameenphone's then CEO Michael Patrick Foley had told reporters that the telecom regulator was forcing the mobile operator to pay an "illegal audit claim of Tk 12,579.96 crore".
"We don't want to be extorted, we don't want to stay under pressure, we don't desire to be on the front page of the newspapers globally," Foley had said.
When his attention was drawn to the remarks of Foley, Haque yesterday said: "The BTRC isn't an extortionist; we only claim based on the law."
