SC tells Citycell to clear dues of Tk 128cr

The Supreme Court today directed Citycell to pay the Tk 128 crore, the remainder of its fees, to telecom regulator in revenue sharing bid, spectrum charges, late fees and fine.

A four-member bench of Appellate division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order after dismissing Citycell’s plea seeking modification of its earlier order which had mandated the mobile operator to pay Tk 372 crore.

The apex court said, Citycell will have to pay the money as recommended made by an expert committee headed by Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury.

Lawyer Barrister Khandaker Reza-E-Raquib told The Daily Star the Supreme Court in November 2016 formed the committee for assessing the relevant fees of Citycel payable to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

The committee submitted a report to the Appellate division in June last year. In the report, the committee recommended Citycell to pay Tk 372 crore to BTRC as its revenue sharing fees, spectrum charge, late fee and fine.

Citycell has already paid Tk 244 crore as per the recommendation, Barrister Raquib said. It recently filed a petition with the apex court seeking its directives so that it is exempted from paying the rest Tk 128 crore to the BTRC.