Faiz Ahmed Tayeb, special assistant to the chief adviser for posts, telecommunications and ICT, has stressed the need for stronger coordination among the National Board of Revenue, the Ministry of Commerce and the Department of Consumer Rights Protection to ensure that reduced import duties lead to lower mobile phone prices for consumers.
Although import duties have recently been lowered, handset prices in the domestic market have not fallen, raising questions about gaps in enforcement and market monitoring.
Tayeb made the remarks at a roundtable discussion titled “ICT and Telecom Sector Reform Agenda” held on Wednesday at Karwan Bazar in Dhaka. The event was organised by Voice for Reform with support from the Technology Industry Policy Advocacy Platform.
“When import duties are reduced, prices should naturally come down,” he said. “If the NBR, the Ministry of Commerce and consumer rights authorities work effectively together, mobile phone prices will definitely decrease.”
He cautioned, however, that the effect of duty cuts would take time to materialise, as several procedural stages must be completed before products reach the market.
“It is unrealistic to expect prices to fall the day after a notification is issued,” Tayeb said. “Opening letters of credit, importing raw materials, production and marketing all require time. After this process, prices should decline.”
Tayeb also voiced confidence that reforms introduced by the interim government in the ICT and telecom sectors would continue under the next administration, noting that the reform process had been carried out transparently and with a focus on institutional strength.
Addressing concerns that future governments might reverse the reforms, he said such actions would be subject to public questioning. “If the incoming government wants, they can reverse them. But then questions can be raised about why specific provisions were introduced,” he said.
On whether the next government would face unresolved challenges, Tayeb said the current administration was instead addressing long-standing structural issues.
“We are solving problems so that the next government can advance the country’s digital economy,” he said. “We have borne criticism and pressure ourselves because I believe in institutional capacity, not just projects.”
Referring to the recent deactivation of 8.8 million SIM cards, Tayeb said the majority—around 60–80 per cent—were unused or inactive.
He also rejected claims that individuals were limited to owning five SIM cards under a single national identity card, saying no such directive had been issued by his ministry.
“The ministry never issued such an instruction,” he said. “Initially, the home ministry suggested deactivating SIMs beyond five per person, while some proposed a limit of two. Ultimately, we allowed up to 10 SIMs per national ID.”
The roundtable was moderated by Fahim Mashroor, co-convener of Voice for Reform and former president of BASIS. Other speakers included BTRC commissioner Brigadier General (retd) Iqbal Ahmed, telecom expert Mahtab Uddin Ahmed and Dr Niaz Asadullah, head of the ICT Sector White Paper Committee.
