The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has fined mobile number portability (MNP) operator Infozillion Teletech BD Ltd Tk1 lakh for repeated payment defaults.
The earlier order to recover Tk5.02 crore in disputed regulatory dues remains unimplemented after nine months.
At its 14 October meeting, the commission decided to ask the operator to clear outstanding payments within 30 days and renewed instructions to recover nearly Tk5.17 crore, according to commission documents.
The recovery decision had been referred to BTRC’s Legal and Licensing Division on 7 January, but no action had been taken by the time of the October meeting.
BTRC claims Infozillion owes Tk9.19 crore in revenue-sharing payments, late fees, value-added tax and Social Responsibility Fund contributions. The company disputes Tk5.02 crore of the assessment.
Infozillion CEO Md Mustafa Kamal said the company had not received a letter from BTRC and could not comment on the decision.
“Once we receive that, I can share my views,” he said in a message.
The dispute stems from differing interpretations of when revenue-sharing obligations began and which rate should apply.
Infozillion received a 15-year mobile number portability licence on 30 November 2017. The service allows mobile users to switch operators while retaining their telephone numbers.
Under the original licence terms, Infozillion was required to share 15 per cent of its annual audited gross revenue with BTRC from its second year of operation, with payments due quarterly.
However, BTRC approved the company’s tariffs on 23 September 2018 and authorised commercial operations from 1 October that year.
Infozillion treated the period before 1 October 2019 as its first year and began calculating revenue-sharing obligations from that date.
The regulator subsequently reduced the revenue-sharing rate to 5.5 per cent on 9 September 2021.
Infozillion applied the lower rate from October 2019, while BTRC’s assessment retained the earlier 15 per cent rate for part of the period.
The company maintains that the delay in tariff approval and subsequent rate reduction explain the difference between its calculations and the regulator’s claim.
BTRC assessed total liabilities at over Tk9.19 crore, against nearly Tk4.18 crore that Infozillion accepted as payable.
The operator paid over Tk2.09 crore on 21 October 2025 and requested permission to settle the remaining undisputed dues in 24 monthly instalments.
BTRC instead allowed 12 instalments and required the company to continue regular revenue-sharing payments.
Infozillion began instalment payments on 25 March 2026 but made only three payments over the following five months, according to commission records. Revenue-sharing dues for January–June also remained outstanding.
At its 309th meeting, BTRC decided to give the company 30 days to clear overdue instalments and current liabilities, warning of possible legal action.
Following a reminder issued on 9 August, Infozillion paid two overdue instalments, cleared revenue-sharing dues for January–March and made a partial payment for April–June.
Those payments totalled Tk90,57,177, including instalments, revenue share, tax, late fees and Social Responsibility Fund contributions.
However, Tk15,28,440 in revenue-sharing dues for April–June remained unpaid.
In a 9 September letter, Infozillion pledged to clear its outstanding payments as soon as possible.
BTRC subsequently concluded that the company had missed the stipulated deadline, imposed the fine and again instructed its Legal and Licensing Division to implement the outstanding recovery order.
