Just as private mobile operators were mulling to raise the minimum amount that customers can top up, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has come up with its own plan to set the figure.

"We have already discussed it with the operators and they will send us proposals," Brig Gen Mohammad Khalil-ur-Rahman, director general for system and services division of the BTRC, told The Daily Star yesterday.

After evaluating their proposals, the commission may take a decision on setting a minimum recharge amount, he added.

A BTRC official said the decision was being considered to safeguard the interest of customers.

The development comes a day after Grameenphone yesterday backtracked from its decision to substantially increase the minimum recharge amount from Tk 20 to Tk 30 following widespread customer dissatisfaction and the regulator's intervention.

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

"We haven't put it into action yet, and we're currently in talks with BTRC about it. Our subsequent decisions will be determined by the outcome of those discussions," said the operator.

The regulator had intervened by calling a meeting with the mobile operators at its office in Dhaka yesterday.

In the meeting, the BTRC asked the operators not to increase the minimum recharge amount right now "as the elections had just taken place".

However, officials of the operators, wishing anonymity, said it would be unprecedented for the regulator to fix a minimum recharge amount.

"Minimum recharge is not regulated anywhere in the world. BTRC's intervention and intention to regulate will be counterproductive. It's a sign of micro management," according to a top official of an operator.

There is a small customer base which recharges less than Tk 30. Therefore, there are no implications of fixing the minimum recharge amount at Tk 30 for the wider customer base, argued officials of the operators.

In neighbouring India, minimum recharge amounts range from Rs 80 to Rs 155. The BTRC should intervene only when there is a market failure, otherwise, such interventions will cause a market failure soon, they added.

But some customers said there were many financially insolvent people who recharge Tk 20. They would face difficulty if the minimum recharge amount is raised, said a mobile user.