The government has outstanding revenue claims of Tk13,144 crore from the country’s four mobile operators, with Grameenphone leading the list, Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Fakir Mahbub Anam told parliament on Wednesday.
Responding to a question from Cox’s Bazar-3 MP Lutfor Rahman, the minister said Grameenphone owes Tk6,102 crore, state-owned Teletalk Tk5,954 crore, Robi Axiata Tk615 crore, and Banglalink Tk473 crore.
According to information presented in parliament, BTRC’s initial claim against Grameenphone was Tk8,494 crore regarding Information System Audit objections. Following court directives and subsequent payments, including Tk392.19 crore after a VAT case verdict, the outstanding amount now stands at Tk6,101.82 crore. The matter is pending in the higher court.
Teletalk’s arrears of Tk5,954 crore include licence fees, revenue sharing, spectrum fees, administrative fines, and social responsibility contributions. Of this, Tk5,554 crore is pending before the Finance Ministry for conversion into equity.
Robi Axiata has outstanding dues of Tk615 crore, including Information System Audit objections and VAT. Banglalink owes Tk473 crore on similar grounds.
Responding to a question from Dhaka-4 MP Syed Zainul Abedin, the minister said effective initiatives have been taken to address call drops, slow internet, and weak networks.
Guidelines on the Quality of Service Benchmarking System have been issued. Under this, drive tests covering approximately 2,000 kilometres were completed across the country in 2026 to verify network coverage and service quality.
Weak networks will be identified and operators instructed to take improvement measures, the minister said, expressing hope that customers will receive uninterrupted services. Legal and administrative efforts to recover the outstanding revenue are ongoing, he added.
