BTRC finalises appointment of 2 firms for telco audit

The telecom regulator has finalised appointment of two firms to audit mobile phone operators after an initial audit attempt into the operators was foiled because of unlawful appointment of auditors in 2011. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission officials said Toha Khan Zaman & Co and Masih Muhith Haque & Co were selected for the telecom audit and also received clearance from the government. The BTRC is scheduled to sign agreements with the two firms on October 6, they said. ‘We were extra cautious this time because of our previous experience and that’s why the appointment process took almost two years. After signing the agreement we will start the audit in the shortest possible time,’ a BTRC official told New Age on Monday. He said the audit will start with Grameenphone and Robi. ‘Later we will audit the other operators also,’ the official said. He said the audit firms would scrutinise actual imports, relevant invoices, and actual prices of equipment, actual revenue and payments to the government. Earlier in May 2011, the telecom regulator appointed a firm which audited Grameenphone, the country’s largest mobile phone operator, and submitted a report saying GP’s outstanding amount to the government was Tk 3,034 crore in unpaid revenue and tax. The matter was taken to court and the Supreme Court on December 9, 2013 declared the appointments of firms by the telecom regulator to open the audits into the mobile phone operators illegal as it violates Public Procurement Rule 2008. Later, the BTRC called for international audit firms to crosscheck various information of the six telecom operators — Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi, Airtel, Citycell and Teletalk. The BTRC cancelled the process as the country’s local auditors claimed that as per the country’s law a foreign audit firm could work in capacity of a consultant but could not be appointed as an auditor. The telecom regulator in February 2014 floated fresh tender for the job calling audit firms with a condition that participating firms must have registration of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh and have foreign partners.

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