GP yet to allow BTRC auditor after five months

The country’s leading mobile phone company Grameenphone has yet not allowed the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to audit its accounts five months into the appointment of the auditor.
The telecom regulator BTRC in a letter to GP on Monday warned of taking legal action, if the company fails to cooperate with the auditor.
Earlier, in February, the BTRC asked the GP not to hinder the audit process after the appointed audit firm, Toha Khan Zaman & Co, had complained that GP was not helping in the audit.
The BTRC and the audit firm officials said GP is not even allowing the auditors inside its office.
‘This is simply unacceptable. We are in talks with its lawyers on the issue. Legal action will be taken, if necessary, but I hope that GP will comply with the order,’ BTRC chairman Shahjahan Mahmood told New Age on Wednesday, when asked about the issue.
The BTRC appointed the auditor for GP in October last year to look into different financial matters of GP since its inception.
An earlier BTRC audit of the mobile operator in 2011 was declared illegal by the High Court, as the appointment of the auditor was not done in a lawful process. But the audit generated a government claim of Tk 3,000 crore to GP.
GP in a letter to the BTRC on October 20 last year questioned the new audit process, saying as the claim of the previous audit in 2011 is still pending with the court, how can the BTRC conduct a new audit?
BTRC officials said the new auditor was appointed following a lawful process and the operator has no option to question it.
‘You are directed to stop sending letters raising some Age on Wednesday said, ‘We have received the letter from the BTRC. We support the audit process, but still seek clarity on the status of the previous audit and the validity of that demand.’
Meanwhile, officials of Toha Khan Zaman & Co said the firm is left with only one month to complete the job. ‘In such a situation we have applied to the BTRC to extend the time for another six months,’ said the firm’s authorised representative MD Naser.
The BTRC in March also signed an agreement with Masih Muhith Haque & Co to conduct an information system audit of the mobile phone company Robi.
The regulator in November last year also decided to conduct an audit of another mobile operator, Banglalink, but it is yet to float the tender for the job.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net