A Grameenphone subscriber in Chittagong yesterday sued 11 officials of the mobile operator, including its chief executive officer, for what the user said was misappropriation of consumers’ money by providing lucrative offers. SHM Habibur Rahman Azad filed the case with the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate Muntasir Ahmed, said his lawyer. Grameenphone officials said they are yet to know about any such case.
Kazi Monirul Kabir, chief communication officer of Grameenphone, said: “We have not been informed yet about any such case filed against our CEO and other officials. Once we know about it, we will take appropriate legal steps to mitigate the matter.”
Advocate Iftekhar Saimul, the counsel for the plaintiff, said the case was lodged under sections 34, 406 and 420 of the penal code.
“The court accepted the case and ordered a judicial probe,” Saimul added.
The defendants include CEO Tore Johnsen, CCO Kabir, Chief Financial Officer Fridtjof Rusten, Chief Technology Officer Tanveer Mohammad, Chief Corporate Officer Mahmud Hossain and Chief Marketing Officer Alen Bonke.
In his case statement, the plaintiff said he bought a Grameenphone package, which offered 40 minutes’ GP-GP talk-time at Tk 10, on September 7.
The user, who is also a lawyer, came to know about the offer through a newspaper advertisement, said Saimul.
The operator charged him Tk 11.50, including tax, and he was informed of the charge through a short message service (SMS), according to the case statement.
But, the operator withdrew the offer within half an hour of his registration for the offer. As a result, the plaintiff failed to utilise the talk-time though the offer had still two days’ validity, the statement added.
Later, the plaintiff made a phone call at the operator’s helpline at 121 on September 16, when a customer service manager admitted the matter and said he had nothing to do with it, according to the statement.
-With The Daily Star input
