Govt swallows Tk 265cr losses by giving benefits to IGWs.
The government has suffered a revenue loss of around Tk 265 crore in five months after it cut the rate for international call termination by the international gateway (IGW) operators patronising the politically licensed IGW operators, said telecom ministry officials. Despite the revenue loss, the telecom regulator has proposed that the government should extend by three more months the reduced call rate, which was introduced on a test basis for six months on September 18, 2014, they said. Ministry officials said that Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission last week sought permission to continue with 1.5 cents per minute call rate, which was 3 cents previously, till June 30. Along with the call rate cut, the BTRC also lowered IGW operators’ revenue sharing with the government to 40 per cent from 51.75 per cent for a test period of six months with the approval from prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
‘The government gave an impression that the revenue from international call termination would rise if the rate was reduced as the illegal call termination would reduce. Though the call volume increased, the government revenue dropped because of huge cut in rate,’ said an official of the telecom ministry. BTRC in its letter to the ministry claimed that although revenue decreased in September-February compared with the previous five months, the average revenue rose in the period considering the revenue volume since introduction of the call termination rate. According to ministry officials the average call volume has increased to 106 million minutes per day in September-February period compared to 55 million minutes in the previous five months. The revenue from IGW operators came down to around Tk 725 crore in September-February period from that of Tk 990 crore in the previous five months, they said. ‘So the government lost around Tk 265 crore in revenues in five months of the test period of the new rate cut.
The call volume increase can hardly make up the loss,’ a senior ministry official told New Age. According to the initial projection of BTRC in July 2013, through the rate cut and lower revenue sharing the government would loss Tk 1,074 crore annually. The call charges and revenue sharing rates were lowered mainly to give benefits to the 25 IGWs which got licences in 2012 because of their strong connections with the ruling party Awami League, said officials. Asked about the issue, a senior ministry official said the latest BTRC proposal for extension will be sent to prime minister Sheikh Hasina for approval. ‘If the prime minister approves the extension then we will inform the BTRC,’ he said. The BTRC’s order to lower the government revenue sharing, however, is yet to be legalised as the regulator issued the order without making necessary amendments to the relevant guidelines.
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