The government lost Tk 87.25 crore in spectrum charges from the mobile phone companies because of a flawed spectrum pricing method followed by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, a recent government audit found.
The government lost Tk 62.47 crore in spectrum charges as the BTRC did not update the spectrum tariff unit pricing since 2006, said an audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General which will be sent to parliament soon.
It also said that the government lost Tk 24.78 crore in spectrum charges as the BTRC allowed mobile phone companies to expand network coverage in the three districts of Chittagong Hill Tract for free.
According to the report, the spectrum tariff unit was set at Tk 60 a unit in 2006 which was scheduled to change in 2009 at the rate of Tk 75.
The BTRC in 2006 announced the STU at Tk 60 and in the same notice mentioned that the price would be reviewed in 2009.
‘If the BTRC reviewed the STU in scheduled time at Tk 75, it would have collected Tk 312.36 crore in 2009-10 but it collected Tk 249.88 crore resulting in a loss of Tk 62.47 crore,’ said the CAG in its report.
The BTRC changed the STU price to Tk 75 on August 2010.
In reply to the CAG the BTRC said that post and telecommunication ministry asked to lower the STU to Tk 70 after the commission proposed it at Tk 75.
‘As the authority of setting any kind of tariff was shifted to the ministry in 2010, so the STU pricing could not be reviewed in time,’ said the BTRC in the reply.
The CAG office rejected the reply saying that the BTRC was scheduled to change the STU before the authority was shifted to the telecom ministry.
‘The ministry got the job of tariff setting in 2010, but the BTRC was scheduled to
change the STU in 2009. So, the reply is not satisfactory,’ it said.
The CAG office also suggested collecting the money from either the mobile phone operators or the BTRC officials responsible for the job.
In a separate audit finding, the CAG report said from 2006 the BTRC collected spectrum charges from the mobile phone companies considering the area factor as 1,34,275 square kilometres
whereas the area factor was extended up to 1,47,570 square kilometres
in 2008.
The BTRC did not consider the additional area coverage, Bandarban,
Khagrachari and Rangamati, while charging spectrum fees for 2009-10
but the mobile phone operators enjoyed area coverage in those districts during the period, it said.
‘The area was initially out of mobile network coverage. But in 2008 the Armed Forces Division allowed mobile network penetration in those areas except Borkol and Baghaichari,’ it said.
It said the Armed Forces Division in 2010 allowed mobile network coverage also in Borkol and Baghaichari.
‘But the BTRC continued to charge mobile phone companies with the previous area factor,’ said the report which was conducted in 2011.
‘If the BTRC considered the revised area factor, it could have
earned Tk 274.63 crore whereas it collected Tk 249.88 crore,’ the audit report said.
In reply to the audit objection, the BTRC said that the commission was communicating with the authorities of the three districts to get the actual area from the local government offices.
‘We are still communicating with the district authorities to know the actual land area under mobile coverage as the Armed Forces Division allowed mobile coverage keeping 10 kilometres border area out of the scheme. After getting the details we will charge the spectrum fees,’ said the BTRC in the reply to the CAG office.
The audit office, however, rejected the BTRC’s reply saying such lengthy communication was not acceptable.
‘It is unacceptable that to know the actual land area BTRC is communicating with the authorities for three years,’ said the audit office.
It also suggested collecting the money from either the mobile operators or the BTRC officials responsible for the job.
The post and telecommunication ministry, however, recommended disposing both the objections considering the BTRC’s replies.
Asked about the audit objections, BTRC chairman Sunil Kanti Bose told New Age that the commission was following the official procedure to defend the audit objections placed by the CAG office.
‘We send our replies about the objections placed by the CAG. If the audit office is not satisfied with the answer and place these before parliament, we will take step as per decision of the Public Accounts Committee of the house,’ he said.
-With New Age input
