BTRC calls for termination of Citycell's licence

The telecom regulator has decided to cancel the licence of Citycell, which has been out of operation since October last year, and place its spectrum in the forthcoming auction.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has made the recommendation to the government, said one of its top officials yesterday.

"We have taken the decision to ensure regulation in the telecommunication industry," said Shahjahan Mahmood, chairman of the BTRC.

The telecom regulator found that the operator has violated the terms of its licence and the directive of the court.

Earlier in October last year, the BTRC brought down the curtains on the country's oldest mobile phone operator over dues amounting to Tk 377 crore pertaining to spectrum and licence fees, revenue sharing and late penalty.

After the cancellation of its spectrum, Citycell had paid Tk 230.19 crore to the BTRC along with Tk 14 crore as tax to the National Board of Revenue, according to court documents.

Citycell disputed the amount claimed by the BTRC, prompting the court to form a three-member committee to work out the exact amount.

But in the meantime, the court asked the operator to continue to clear its remaining dues to the BTRC.

Citycell did not make any payments between October last year and March this year, meaning it violated the court's order as well, according to BTRC officials.

The Section 46 of the Telecommunication Act allows the BTRC to cancel the licence of any entity for non-payment of dues.

The commission's latest move comes one and a half months after it issued a show-cause notice to the mobile phone operator over its failure to pay off the fresh dues incurred for the period between October 2016 and March 2017.

In its reply, Citycell claimed it had made Tk 129.27 crore of overpayment to the BTRC.

The operator has paid Tk 476.27 crore as spectrum charge, licence fee, revenue sharing and social obligation fund to the telecom regulator, said Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd, Citycell's parent company.

Its due until October last year was Tk 346.99 crore, meaning that an additional Tk 129.27 crore has already been furnished to the telecom regulator, said PBTL.

So the dues incurred since October 2016 should be adjusted against the additional Tk 129.27 crore paid by PBTL, it added.

The three-member committee formed by the court has already submitted its report.

"And that report also acknowledges our claim, so now we will be tough on the issue," Mahmood said.

Besides its dues to the BTRC, Citycell is about Tk 3,000-4,000 crore in the red.