Grameenphone seeks to pay BTRC Tk 5.75 billion

Grameenphone has asked for a review of the Supreme Court order to pay Tk 20 billion to the BTRC as part of its disputed audit demand.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 26 Jan 2020, 01:16 PM
Updated : 26 Jan 2020, 01:16 PM

In a petition filed at the Appellate Division on Sunday, the telecom operator sought the court’s consideration to allow the firm to deposit around Tk 5.75 billion.

The amount represents 25 percent of the BTRC-related principal portion of the amount demanded in the audit, Hossain Sadat, Grameenphone director and head of regulatory affairs, told reporters at a Dhaka hotel.

The company wants to deposit the money in 12 equal monthly instalments, he said and added the firm hoped the court would hear its petition soon.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court ordered Grameenphone to pay Tk 20 billion in three months to the telecom regulator as part of its disputed audit demand on Nov 24 last year.

The top court had also kept a freeze on the regulator’s demand notice for a total of Tk 125.8 billion.

Telenor Group, which owns Bangladesh’s largest network Grameenphone, had sent a legal notice to President Abdul Hamid seeking arbitration over the payment dispute. Telenor claimed that Grameenphone was not a party to the process.

Robi, the second largest operator in terms of subscriber base, had also been ordered by the High Court to pay Tk 1.38 billion to the BTRC in instalments in five months as part of its disputed audit demand of Tk 8.67 billion.