DHAKA: The High Court issued an ad-interim injunction for two months on the realisation of Tk 12,579.95 crore from Grameenphone by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)

The HC bench of Justice AKM Abdul Hakim and Justice Fatima Nazib on Thursday (Oct 17) passed the order and set November 5 for hearing the plea filed by GP.

Earlier on Sept 5, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) issued separate show-cause notices to Grameenphone and Robi seeking explanation in 30 days as to why their 2G and 3G licences should not be revoked for not paying dues.

The telecom regulator will take steps as per the Bangladesh Telecommunications Act 2001, it added.

Later on Oct 6, Grameenphone and Robi have challenged the legality of the telecom regulator’s show-cause notice on them asking to reply within 30 days why their licences would not be cancelled for their failure to pay Tk 13,446 crore of dues.

The operators said they filed cases in late August challenging the audit claims before the notice was served.

They said the issue is now subjudice, which is why the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission should not have sent out the show-cause notice.

GP has Tk 12,579.95 crore in dues to BTRC and Tk 867.23 crore from Robi.

Earlier on July 4, the BTRC directed to slash Grameenphone’s and Robi’s bandwidth. 

BDST: 2103 HRS, OCT 17, 2019
RS/SMS