People being charged extra for 4G services
Mobile phone operators were charging between Tk 100 and Tk 110 for upgrading a SIM to Fourth-Generation (4G) network services.
The operators on Tuesday said they were taking Tk 100 as replacement tax imposed by the National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh.
But experts said there can be no justification to charge Tk 100 as customers had already paid all types of tax when they bought the SIMs.
This time a customer is not buying a new SIM, they are just upgrading the SIM instead, the experts pointed out.
Prothom Alo investigations found that mobile phone operator Grameenphone was charging Tk 110 while RobiAxiata and Banglalink were taking Tk 100 for upgrading a SIM to 4G services.
The mobile operators were not taking any money from their ‘special customers’ like Grameenphone Star, Robi Dhannabad and Banglalink Priyojon package holders.
The operators also said they were paying the money to NBR on behalf of their ‘special customers’.
The customers were provided with extra facilities as part of their business strategy, the operators added.
Grameenphone’s head of corporate affairs Mahmud Hossain told ProthomAlo that the operator was taking Tk 100 on behalf of the government.
And a customer is being given 1.5 gigabyte internet data and service for Tk 10, Mahmud Hossain added.
Telecommunication research institute Learn Asia’s researcher Abu Sayed Khan told ProthomAlo that the variation in charges suggests discrimination.
That means those who are rich are being awarded while the poor are being charged. “This is unacceptable.”
“I didn’t know the special discount for certain customers. No discriminative policy is acceptable. I’ll tell the BTRC to take action in this regard.”
The tax imposed by the NBR will be discussed with finance minister to revise the decision, the minister added.
Bangladesh has entered a new era with launching 4G services in the country.
Earlier on Tuesday, the mobile phone operators launched the 4G services across the country through several programmes in Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna.
*The article originally published in Prothom Alo print edition has been rewritten in English by Toriqul Islam.