Citycell to pay Tk 477.51 crore within 3 months

MNA Business Desk: The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Citycell to pay its Tk 477.51 crore dues to the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Council (BTRC) in installments within 3 months.

A five-member bench, led by the chief justice SK Sinha, passed the order after hearing petition filed by Citycell.

The court also ordered that Citycell, the country’s oldest mobile phone operator, can continue its operation on some conditions condition. Citycell also has to pay fees including license fee on regular basis from 17 September to the BTRC.

Earlier on 22 August, the High Court stayed until 16 September the government’s process to stop Citycell’s operation, the country’s oldest mobile phone operator, for its failure to pay the BTRC a outstanding payment of Tk 477.51 crore.

Later on 23 August, Citycell filed a petition to review the HC order. According to the BTRC information, the quantity of its clients was 700,000 in June, which is less than 1% of total mobile-phone users.

BTRC also confirmed that Citycell has not paid the second and third installments of the regeneration fees of Tk. 2.29 billion for 8.82 megahertz spectrum in opening of the condition set for permitting after the spectrum renewal in 2012.

The other dues include Tk. 100 million annual license fees, Tk. 271.4 million for annual spectrum fees from 2013 to 2016, Tk. 278.4 million revenue sharing from 2014 to 2016, Tk. 89.2 billion corporate social responsibility fund from 2011 to 2016, Tk. 399.2 billion VAT and Tk. 1.35 billion late fees.