Information minister Hasanul Haque Inu at a regular cabinet meeting on Monday recommended that the government lowers the international call termination rate for IGWs to 1.5 US cents from existing 3 cents which will cause the government to lose Tk 1,073 crore.
Inu raised the issue when prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who chaired the meeting, asked the telecom minister Abdul Latif Siddique to curb illegal VoIP (Voice-over-Internet Protocol) business.
Hasina told Latif that every one knew who was involved with the VoIP business and she did not want to hear any excuses.
Inu told the meeting that IGW rate cut would help to curb illegal VoIP enabling the government to increase its revenue earnings, said a minister who attended the meeting.
The finance ministry last week rejected a proposal for the second time of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission for lowering the call charge for the international gateway operators and reduce the government’s revenue sharing to 40 per cent from the existing 51.75 per cent.
The ministry said it was not convinced by the proposal as it lacked clarity and vision and market impact on other stakeholders.
The BTRC took the move to facilitate politically backed IGW operators who were given licenses in 2012 considering their affiliation with the ruling party.
Inu in the last term of Awami-League led government was the head of parliamentary standing committee for telecom ministry and pressed the government to award tax and other benefits to the mobile telecom operators.
-With New Age input
