Dhaka, Oct 17 – The High Court on Thursday imposed a two-month injunction on realisation of Tk 12,579.95 crore dues from Grameen Phone (GP). The court fixed November 5 for the next hearing.The Posts and Telecommunications Division on Thursday approved a proposal of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) for appointing administrators for mobile operators Grameenphone (GP) and Robi.
A bench of Justice AKM Abdul Hakim and Justice Fatema Najib passed the order after accepting a GP’s appeal challenging a lower court order.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) claims dues of Tk 12,579.95 crore in 27 sectors from GP. Having failed to recover the money, BTRC on April 2 sent a notice to GP threatening to revoke its license.
Later, GP moved a lower court seeking a temporary injunction on the BTRC’s notice which was turned down on August 28. Later, GP filed an appeal with the High Court.
Advocates SM Amin Uddin, Sharif Bhuiyan and Tanim Hossain stood for the GP while Advocate Khandakar Reza –i-Rakib represented the BTRC.
Meanwhile, The Posts and Telecommunications Division on Thursday approved a proposal of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) for appointing administrators for mobile operators Grameenphone (GP) and Robi.
Posts, Telecommunications Division Minister Mustafa Jabbar told UNB over cell phone that BTRC had sent a proposal for appointing administrators or receivers which has been approved.
The further details will be available at BTRC, he said.
Earlier on September 18, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said that the disputes of GP and Robi with BTRC over outstanding dues will be resolved within two or three weeks through discussions.
GP has Tk 12,579.95 crore in dues to the government, including Tk 4,085.95 crore to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), while Robi has Tk 867.23 crore to the government, including Tk 197.21 crore to the NBR alone, as per a BTRC audit.
GP and Robi filed two cases against BTRC with the Dhaka Civil Court on August 26 and August 25 respectively for its alleged faulty audit reports exaggerating the dues of the operators.
On September 5, BTRC issued show-causes notices to GP and Robi seeking explanation as to why their 2G and 3G licences should not be revoked for failure to pay dues.
Earlier, BTRC stopped issuing fresh NOCs (no objection certificates) to GP and Robi over the row about dues to the government. However, it backtracked from the decision later. – UNB
