Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission on Wednesday asked permission from the telecom ministry for cancelling licenses of international gateway operator Telex Ltd and Ratul Telecom for their failure to pay the government dues. BTRC officials said the telecom regulator already blocked the operation of the two companies as Telex failed to pay its dues worth Tk 85 crore and Ratul worth Tk 90 crore, missing several deadlines to make the payment.
They also said some other international gateway operators might face the similar fate shortly as they have huge outstanding to the government too.
‘After getting the permission from the ministry we will cancel their licenses and file cases under public demand recovery act to realise the money,’ a senior BTRC official told New Age on Wednesday.
He said the BTRC blocked several other IGW operators who have huge amount of dues and failed to pay those despite several warnings.
Ratul Telecom, is run by Syeda Amrin Rakhi, daughter of State Minister for LGRD, Jahangir Kabir Nanak.
Rakhi owns 50 per cent shares in the company while her mother Syeda Arzuman Banu owns 20 per cent shares.
On the other hand, Awami League joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif is a minor shareholder of Telex.
BTRC officials said among the other major defaulters Digicon Telecommunication’s due is around Tk 40 crore, Vision
Tel’s Tk 135 crore, K Tel’s Tk 60 crore and Apple GlobalTel Communications Tk 50 crore.
They said the telecom regulator blocked the operation of all these IGWs for unpaid bills and the licenses of the companies might be cancelled.
‘These companies have huge unpaid bills not only to the government but also to some private companies like mobile phone companies and ICX operators. If we cancel the license it will be hard for the private firms to realise their money from the IGWs,’ a senior BTRC officials said.
In 2008, the BTRC awarded four IGW, three ICX and two IIG licences. The regulator had proposed at best 10 more licences, but the government last year awarded 25 IGW, 23 ICX and 34 IIG licences on political consideration which made the market vulnerable.
At present, the government receives around Tk 1,000 crore from the IGW operators as yearly revenue. The new 25 IGW licences could hardly make an increase in the revenue, said BTRC officials.
They said the government has also reduced the revenue sharing with the IGW operators in order to facilitate the politically backed IGWs.
-With New Age input
