The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has decided to appoint new auditors to settle a dispute of Tk 3,004.11 crore dues from leading mobile operator Grameenphone, said BTRC officials. They said the commission on Tuesday gave nod to a proposal of the legal and licensing department of BTRC for appointing new auditors for system and financial audit of GP.
‘A huge amount of revenue is overdue with GP since 2011. So we want to settle the issue,’ a top ranking official told New Age on Monday.
He said a fresh audit is needed to settle the matter as there is a dispute over the claim.
‘The commission also decided not go come under any agreement with the operator on the matter,’ he said.
BTRC officials said the HC in its judgement made an observation that the BTRC may conduct a new audit to settle the issue as it is related to huge amount of unpaid public money.
‘It is impossible for BTRC to withdraw the claim as the claim is for public money. If there is any confusion over the audit outcome then it is convenient to conduct a fresh audit and find out the truth,’ another BTRC official told New Age.
In May 2011, the telecom regulator appointed an auditor to examine GP which found that the operator’s outstanding amount to the government was Tk 3,034 crore in unpaid revenue and tax.
The High Court on August 2011, upon a writ petition filed against BTRC’s appointment of the audit firms, declared the appointment of the auditor was illegal as the regulator failed to follow the procedure.
In October 2011, GP filed a case in First Joint District Judge’s Court of Dhaka for dismissing the claim of Tk 3,004.11 crore on the ground of flawed appointment of the auditor.
The BTRC’s audit move was aimed at looking into the financial details of all telecom operators to check if there was any irregularity, especially in sharing revenue between operators and the government.
-With New Age input
