Bangladesh: BTRC goes slow on Banglalink anomalies

Dhaka, July 6, 2014 (New Age): The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission is dillydallying in taking action against Banglalink despite having found several irregularities done by the mobile phone operator during 2010-12. The BTRC found at least four Banglalink service and packages — 7 taka 70 minute, home zone, icon and flat tariff — were run without the regulator’s approval and in violation of other relevant laws between 2010-12 but it is yet to penalise the company for the wrongdoings, said officials. BTRC officials said because of inactive role of some high official of the commission the regulator was yet to take any meaningful action against Banglalink. ‘It is surprising that for so many irregularities for the three years the company is not facing any action,’ a BTRC official told New Age on Monday. He said the BTRC only issued show-cause notice to the company time to time. ‘The commission should investigate whether or not the BTRC officials are taking any advantage out of it,’ he said. BTRC officials said Banglalink earned Tk 19.46 lakh from its unapproved 7 taka 70 minute package which the company lunched in its seventh anniversary on February 11 in 2012. A BTRC investigation report showed that Banglalink launched and campaigned for the service without official approval from the commission and it also violated the minimum tariff rule of the commission. It said after the BTRC came to know the matter it asked the company to immediately stop the service but Banglalink did not stop it despite the regulator’s order. BTRC officials said some high-ups of the commission were aware of the service launch as the company informed them through email. In case of icon package, which was launched on November 25 in 2010 for its VIP subscribers, Banglalink paired up with Qatar Airways for providing complementary air ticket for the icon subscribers. BTRC report said the operators launched the offer without permission and violated BTRC tariff directive which bars gifts like air ticket. Banglalink earned Tk 8.76 crore from the icon package. In daily flat tariff package, Banglalink put a system of collecting Tk 4 daily from the balance of the subscribers registered with the package in 2011, violating section 48 of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Act 2001. The officials said that the commission on August 2 in 2011 had asked Banglalink to stop the service but the operator continued to run it. The BTRC’s August 23, 2012 notice said due to a late implementation of the commission’s directive the subscribers of Banglalink lost Tk 92.33 crore. Later in June 2013, Banglalink admitted to the BTRC that it took Tk 9 crore extra from the subscribers under flat tariff package but, the company is yet to refund the money to the subscribers. In home zone package, Banglalink again violated the interim tariff directive which bars mobile operators to offer a package based on geographic consideration. BTRC officials said the home zone service, launched in 2011, offered lower call rates at Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University, Rajshahi University, Khulna University, and Shahjalal University of Science and Technology and their surrounding areas. They said the service was also available in some district headquarters. But the duration of the service could not be confirmed. The BTRC has repeatedly asked Banglalink to submit the financial details of the home zone package but the company failed to provide the particulars. The BTRC legal department in a suggestion to the commission recently said that BTRC could fine Banglalink Tk 100 crore as the company ran two packages even after issuing injunction letters. ‘The BTRC can fine Banglalink Tk 100 crore as the company clearly violated rule 64,’ it said. Asked about the lethargic approach to resolving the Banglalink issue, BTRC system and service department director M Zulfikar said the process was ongoing. ‘The process of resolving Banglalink issues is still going on. We are about to form a committee as the company has requested for a hearing on the issues,’ he told New Age. ‘It is true that the issues are hanging for long. I guess because of the pressure of the regular work it has just got little delayed,’ he said. BTRC chairman Sunil Kanti Bose June last year told New Age that considering the greater interest of the subscribers the BTRC would solve the matter soon. Asked about the issue, Banglalink, however, denied making any comment on the matter.