Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Grameenphone has refuted the claim of the regulator that the mobile operator will have to pay BDT 30.34 billion in unpaid revenue and tax.
Kazi Monirul Kabir, chief communications officer of the company, said they “strongly disagree” with the numbers the regulator has claimed in a letter sent to GP on Monday.
In the letter, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said the mobile operator will have to pay BDT 21.46 billion in unpaid revenue and accumulated interest payment to the regulator as of March 31.
The remaining amount — SIM tax and VAT — will go to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), according to the letter.
GP officials said had the audit, which found the amounts to be paid by the operator, been done complying with general rules, the finding would have been different.
On Tuesday, the operator sent a reply to the telecom watchdog and also held a press conference at Sonargaon Hotel to clear its stand against the BTRC claim.
“The letter was a surprise and disappointing,” said Kabir at the press conference.
Some of the points were not even discussed with the operator while the audit was performed, he said.
“The audit having been not yet finished with the sufficient cross party procedure…it is not understood how the final notice has been issued to instruct GP to pay huge amount of receivables on different accounts,” The Daily Star, a local newspaper, reported quoting the letter addressing Zia Ahmed, Chairman of the BTRC, and signed by Tore Johnsen, chief executive officer of GP.
Johnsen also said, “We are shocked to see that such a sensitive and confidential letter has been shared with the media by the BTRC without giving proper understanding and interpretation of the technicalities covered in the letter.”
BBN/SSR/AD-05Oct11-11:41 am (BST)
