GP backs out of Tk 30 minimum recharge

Amidst widespread customer dissatisfaction alongside regulator's intervention, Grameenphone yesterday backtracked from its recent decision to substantially increase the minimum recharge amount to Tk 30.

Numerous customers had taken to social media to express their frustration and anger at the 50 percent hike.

"It is a very bad decision. Many of the poor people recharge Tk 20, but now they will face difficulty," Md Shahin, a customer of Grameenphone, told The Daily Star.

This development has been communicated to users primarily through notifications on the MyGP app, Grameenphone's dedicated mobile application for customer services.

The decision was scheduled to come into effect from today.

However, last night the operator said it had backtracked.

"We are not implementing it and it will be discussed with BTRC now. We will take further decisions based on that discussion," Sharfuddin Ahmed Chowdhury, head of communications at Grameenphone, told The Daily Star.

"It should be noted here that we have considered the minimum balance recharge of Tk 30 and at the same time, for the convenience of our customers, we currently have various recharge options such as Tk 14, Tk 19 and Tk 29 recharge for minute packs, Tk 20 recharge through card…," he said.

"While the minimum balance recharge is Tk 30, customers can use these other options," he said.

The developments come just six months after Grameenphone, the largest telecom operator in terms of customers and revenue, raised the minimum limit of recharge for its customers by 100 percent.

In July last year, the operator increased the limit to Tk 20. Before that, customers could recharge a minimum of Tk 10.

The other operators have followed suit. Robi and Banglalink also raised their minimum recharge amount to Tk 20.

The telecom regulator was not aware of Grameenphone's move, according to Md Mohiuddin Ahmed, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

"Once it came to our notice, we instructed them not to go ahead with the decision," he said yesterday.

However, officials of the country's mobile operators said the price of everything, from bandwidth to telecommunication equipment, has shot up significantly due to the dollar becoming exorbitantly pricey against the taka.

"So, we need to raise the minimum recharge limit and we are not increasing prices. Otherwise, we won't survive," said a top official of an operator.

Sources in Robi and Banglalink said they were also mulling to increase the minimum recharge amount.

"I don't contradict the operator's argument that the price of equipment and bandwidth has gone up," said Abu Saeed Khan, senior policy fellow at LIRNEasia.

"But, before raising the minimum recharge amount, they should inform the public the reason behind such a move," he said.

It is also the regulator's failure that the public was not informed about prices hike of the telecommunication infrastructure equipment, he said.

He also blamed the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh, the trade body representing all mobile telecom operators in Bangladesh, for "not presenting the logic of raising the minimum recharge amount to customers" on behalf of the operators.

Sources said the BTRC has called a meeting with the mobile operators at its office today to discuss the issue.