UNAPPROVED FLAT TARIFF PROMOTION
Banglalink keeps violating BTRC order to refund money
Mobile phone operator Banglalink has kept delaying the refund of Tk 9 crore the operator collected by charging the subscribers of an unapproved promotional package in 2011 extra money.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission asked Banglalink to refund Tk 92.33 crore on the same ground on several occasions but the operator claimed that the amount would be much lower, said BTRC officials.
In the last month the BTRC asked Banglalink to pay the users money worth around Tk 9 crore, as per Banglalink’s own calculation, within 30 days ended on July 20.
It also asked to pay Tk 10 lakh in fine on charge of violating the telecom rules. The fine is also remained unpaid.
‘Banglalink did not refund the money after the third notices and again requested for a review of the matter,’ said a BTRC official.
The BTRC in August last year issued a letter to Banglalink asking the mobile phone operator to refund Tk 92.33 crore to the subscribers and pay Tk 10 lakh in fine within one month on charge of violating the telecom rules.
The commission again April this year asked Banglalink why it did not refund the money.
In response, Banglalink said it collected Tk 9 crore in extra money from the subscribers between July 8, 2011 and November 16, 2011 through a daily flat tariff promotion.
It said Tk 92 crore is the full amount of money collected through the package. And only the additional amount charged should be refundable.
The BTRC initially disagreed with the Banglalink’s reply and asked the operator to give further information.
‘Banglalink’s reply was not satisfactory but we have got order from the top to settle the issue. So, we asked Banglalink to refund the amount it has agreed to
return but the company even fail to do that,’ said a senior BTRC official.
He said Banglalink also submitted a letter requesting for a review of the entire process.
‘The operator said around Tk 5 crore will be refundable to the subscribers who are still active and around Tk 3.5 crore to those who deactivated their accounts. We asked Banglalink to deposit Tk 3.5 crore to the BTRC,’ he said.
The BTRC issued the first letter to Banglalink on August 23, 2012 for refunding the money but the subscribers are yet to receive the fund as the operator is delaying the process, the official said.
Banglalink put a system of collecting Tk 4 daily from the balance of the subscribers registered with its daily flat tariff package in 2011, violating section 48 of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Act 2001.
The officials said that the commission on August 2, 2011 had asked Banglalink to stop the service but the operator continued 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.
The BTRC’s notice said in case of post-paid subscribers the operator would have to adjust the amount, which it charged extra, with their monthly balance.
In case of pre-paid subscribers, the amount has to be refunded through balance refill, it said.
Asked about the issue Banglalink admitted that it has some differences of opinion on the matter with the BTRC.
‘We are always respectful to the rules and regulation of BTRC. We believe that we launched this tariff under the guideline of BTRC, but when an objection was raised, we stopped it. We have a difference of opinion on this issue. That is why we have requested BTRC to review the matter again. We are continuously engaged with BTRC to resolve this issue,’ Banglalink said in an email statement to New Age on Tuesday.
Forex reserve
Continued from B1
the period of July-May, L/Cs worth $33,116.77 million for food grains, capital machinery, petroleum and industrial raw materials were opened, while
L/Cs worth $29,480.58 million were settled.
Statistics on agricultural credit disbursement showed that about 104 per cent of the target was achieved during the last fiscal year as disbursement was Tk 14,667.49 crore while the recovery was Tk 14,362.29 crore.
-With New Age input
