Int’l Audit Of Telcos
BTRC backtracks on local auditors’ push
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has recently cancelled its plan to hire international firms for auditing the mobile phone companies following objection from local chartered accountants, said officials. The BTRC called international audit firms in January 2013 to crosscheck various information of six telecom operators —Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi, Airtel, Citycell and Teletalk — but cancelled the bid in January 2 this year.
‘The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh put objection against the move which the commission took into account,’ a senior BTRC official told New Age on Sunday.
He said the BTRC would decide later about issuing a second tender on the appointing auditor.
According to the expression of interest issued by the BTRC on January 9, 2013, the commission intended to hire an international audit firm to check actual imports, relevant invoices, actual prices of equipment and the software and installation of the telecom equipments.
The firm was also responsible for finding out the actual revenue generated and the calculation procedure to make the payment to the BTRC, National Board of Revenue and other agencies for a particular or whole licensing period and reconcile those with the operator’s financial statements.
‘We objected on the BTRC’s EOI because as per the country’s law a foreign audit firm can work in other capacity here like a consultant but cannot be appointed as an auditor,’ a senior official of the ICAB told New Age when asked about the issue.
He said the local firms should get the job and they will decide wheatear they needed a foreign consultant or not.
Another BTRC official told New Age that the issue remained out of focus following the recent tussle between the NBR and mobile operators about Tk 3,000-crore SIM replacement tax.
‘The situation recently heated up again about the SIM replacement tax issue. The court also recently declared the appointment of the auditors by BTRC in 2011 illegal. So we will decide about the issue later,’ another BTRC official told New Age.
The dispute between the NBR and the mobile phone companies about the SIM replacement tax recently heated up as the tax regulator prepared the draft final report on the matter which the operators declined to sign in.
The NBR since early 2012 has been demanding Tk 1,580 crore from GP, Tk 774 crore from Banglalink, Tk 664 crore from Robi and Tk 82 crore from Airtel in SIM replacement taxes, claiming that the operators had dodged the taxes.
The matter was taken to the court also but the court sent back the matter to NBR late last year saying that the tax regulator should resolve it through alternative dispute resolution.
The NBR formed a committee to settle the issue comprising representative from the BTRC and the telecom operators.
The NBR recently finalised the report but the Association of Mobile Telephone Operators of Bangladesh termed it ‘so-called final report’ and questioned the proceeding of the report.
On the other hand, in May 2011, the telecom regulator appointed a firm which audited Grameenphone and submitted a report in October. According to the report, the operator’s outstanding amount to the government was Tk 3,034 crore in unpaid revenue and tax.
Two other firms were also appointed to audit the second largest operator, Banglalink, but the auditors later declined to continue.
The matter was taken to court and the Supreme Court on December 9, 2013 declared the appointment of firms by the telecom regulator to open audits into mobile phone operators illegal.
-With New Age input
