BTRC extends time until June 30
Fourteen International Gateway operators failed to pay the annual license fees in the current year within the stipulated time which caused the government to lose Tk 70 crore in revenue, said officials. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission officials said the commission on Monday decided to give the IGW operators a deadline till June 30 before taking legal action against them.
BTRC data showed that of the total, the operation of eight IGWs was suspended because of revenue dues while six IGWs were running their operation.
BTRC officials said the running six IGWs have a dues of Tk 30 crore while the eight closed IGWs have a dues of Tk 40 crore.
The annual license fee for IGW operators is Tk 7.5 crore.
‘Some operational IGWs requested us to allow them to pay the renewal fees in instalments which the commission approved. The BTRC has now asked the operators to clear all their dues by June 30,’ a senior BTRC official told New Age on Tuesday.
He said the commission would suspend operation of the IGWs if they fail to clear the dues in time.
He said the politically backed IGW companies were yet to pay any renewal fees as those already have huge amount of dues in revenue sharing.
‘The BTRC would go for legal action against those,’ he said.
BTRC data showed, Telex, Kay Telecom, Vision Tel, Bestec and Ratul Telecom have dues of Tk 7.5 crore each as license renewal fees while Apple Telecom has dues of Tk 6.5 crore, SM Telecom Tk 5 crore and Mos5 has dues of Tk 5 crore.
Earlier in April, the BTRC relaxed the revenue sharing and licensing fees provisions for IGW operators by amending the guideline.
The IGW operators were scheduled to deposit their annual fees anytime before the issuance date of the licence which is now 60 days from issue date of the licence, said the amended guideline.
Currently, the country has 29 IGW operators after the government in 2012 awarded 25 new licenses to influential ruling party leaders.
The government lost around Tk 1,000 crore in last two years as the politically backed IGWs did not share revenue, violating the law.
-With New Age input
