Regulator's audit into GP faces setback

The telecom regulator's bid to run a fresh audit into Grameenphone is facing a setback, as the operator sought to know whether it will discard the previous audit of 2011.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission sent a letter to Grameen-phone, saying the audit will start on October 20 for the period from its inception in 1997 to June 2015.

The operator, in turn, sent a letter to the telecom watchdog asking what will happen to the previous audit that BTRC conducted in 2011 for the period from 1997 to 2011.  At the time, BTRC demanded Tk 3,034 crore from Grameenphone.

In the letter signed by Rajeev Sethi, chief executive officer of Grameenphone, the operator sought clarification on the matter and asked BTRC to postpone the audit. Mahmud Hossain, chief corporate affairs officer of Grameenphone, said the operator sent the letter on October 20 and the regulator needs to take a decision on it.

In 2011, Grameenphone challenged the process of appointing the auditor and took the issue to court. The High Court then directed both parties to maintain status quo, until the issue was resolved.

“Therefore, for the sake of openness, fairness and transparency, we strongly believe that the concerns which we have already raised in our earlier and current letters require to be addressed by your good self before commencement of any audit,” Sethi said in the letter.

However, Nasir Ahmed, a director of Toha Khan Zaman & Co, a chartered accounting firm, which has been appointed by the regulator to audit Grameenphone, said: “We have already started the process.”

The firm has to complete the audit in 180 days, according to the deal signed with the regulator.

However, BTRC could not sign a deal with Masih Muhith Haque & Co, another chartered accounting firm, to audit Robi, as the Indian partner of Masih has not come to Bangladesh yet.

Masih sought three weeks' time to sign the deal, which was scheduled for October 12. It missed that deadline as well. The process has already been delayed and the BTRC is still waiting for a response from Masih, said Md Sarwar Alam, spokesperson for BTRC.

BTRC now has to wait until November 17, according to the tender documents of the deal with Masih, to go for fresh bidding for Robi.

“We also have the option to award the contract to the second best applicant for Robi's audit,” said another senior official of BTRC.

Moreover, the probability of a merger between Robi and Airtel before completion of the audit into Robi has come up as a speed bump for the regulator. The merger will make the matter more complex.