Mobile operator Grameenphone (GP) yesterday sent a clarification to The Independent about a news report titled “GP willing to pay Tk 2000cr to meet BTRC audit claim” printed on January 17, 2020. The news report said the newly-appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of GP met the Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commission (BTRC) chairman to discuss the issue. The GP clarification said, ”While we have received the certified copy of the order from the Hon’ble Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh dated November 24, 2019, right now, we are assessing the court order. Therefore, we reserve our comments for the moment. Neither has any meeting taken place on January 16, 2020, as stated in the report nor did our CEO make any comment on the ongoing issue. We would also like to emphasize that no one approached the GP spokesperson for a comment on this. Therefore, there was no scope for us to make any comment on this issue.” The clarification also said, “Publishing such a one-sided report may misguide our valued shareholders, customers, readers of your esteemed newspaper as well as the public at large.”
Our reply
The newly-appointed CEO of GP Yasir Azman met BTRC Chairman Jahurul Haque and briefly discussed the issue on the sidelines of a programme in Dhaka on 16 January, our sources have confirmed. Our news report also accommodated comments of BTRC chairman on the issue, who said,” The GP official discussed the court order to pay Tk 2,000 crore. They wanted to pay the money in installments. I’ve just declined the offer as the Supreme Court’s order is to take Tk 2,000 crore in a single installment. Therefore, I cannot take it in phases. I requested them to take the court order again and give the money in a single installment.” Also one of our reporters telephoned one of the officials of GP’s communication team, who officially declined to make a comment.
Source – The Independent.
