Citycell given new deadline to pay dues

The Supreme Court yesterday asked the government to reinstate spectrum allocation of Citycell and let it continue operations for now, with a fresh deadline to pay Tk 100 crore by November 19.

A four-member bench of SC's Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, passed the order after hearing a petition filed by Citycell seeking back its spectrum.

If the mobile operator fails to pay Tk 100 crore to the telecom regulator by November 19, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission can cancel its spectrum again, the SC said in its order.

The apex court also formed a three-member committee headed by Prof Jamilur Reza Choudhury to settle the issue between BTRC and Citycell.

On October 20, BTRC cancelled the spectrum of Bangladesh's first mobile operator that served users for more than two decades. Citycell filed the petition seeking its spectrum allocation on October 24, five days after BTRC's suspension order.

Citycell's dues include the spectrum renewal fee at Tk 229 crore, annual licence fee of Tk 10 crore, annual spectrum fee of Tk 27.14 crore, VAT Tk 39.92 crore and late fees of Tk 135 crore, according to a BTRC notice.

The operator owes BTRC Tk 477.69 crore, and in September, the apex court ordered Citycell to pay two-thirds of the amount, Tk 318.42 crore, by October 19. The operator managed to pay Tk 130 crore.

In the petition, the mobile operator claimed that it paid Tk 130 crore to BTRC and Tk 14 crore to the National Board of Revenue in instalments.

Earlier on July 31, the regulator asked Citycell customers to switch to other operators by August 16, as it had decided to suspend its operations.