Thousands of crore taka drained away

illegal VoIP

The government is incurring losses of revenue worth thousands of crore taka every year owing to the rampant rise in illegal VoIP calls, which also puts a dent on the business of the organisations authorised to provide International Gateway services. Bangladesh Telecommuni-cations Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has conducted many drives to stop this illegal business, but to no avail. When approached over the matter, BTRC Chairman Jahurul Haque said, "The Commission took several actions against it (illegal VOIP) in October and November, 2018. But we are yet to make any breakthrough.”

Immediate past Director General (Eng and Operations) of BTRC Brig General Mustafa Kamal said, "If only one lakh VoIP SIM Cards are used daily, the country incurs a revenue loss worth Tk 2,500 crore every year." Experts opined that illegal VoIP business has even reached the rural areas thanks to the ubiquity of the mobile internet. The regulatory authority and law enforcing agencies have seized illegal VOIP equipment even from rural areas in Dhaka and Chittagong.

These illegal VOIP operations became more evident at times when the BTRC slowed down the 3G and 4G Internet during the last few years.   

Md. RezaulQader, Commissioner of BTRC, said, "The High Speed Mobile Broadband (3G/4G) speed was slowed down for three consecutive days starting from the day before the recently held national parliamentary election. During that period, the number of international incoming calls rose by 100 percent on average."

This rise in international incoming calls is partly attributed to the fact that customers were unable to call using mobile apps. But, the lion’s share of the calls was caused due to the unavailability of illegal VoIP services. It

implies that the country’s illegal VoIP is on the rise owing to the 3G and 4G mobile broadband.

Consequently, those doing business legally are incurring a loss, the government is shorn of its deserved revenue and the national security is coming under threat.

Brig General Mustafa Kamal also said, “Militants are getting involved in illegal VoIP to catalyze their income. Therefore, the commission is pondering on pressing charges of money laundering and other criminal offenses in addition to filing traditional cases.”

Two drives conducted between October and November 2018 revealed that SIM cards of the country’s mobile operators are widely used in illegal VoIP business. Of the 53,000 SIMs confiscated during the drives, 21,018 were accounted for by Teletalk, 20,709 by Robi, 6,602 by Banglalink and 4,647 by Grameenphone.

At a press conference following the raid, the Chairman of BTRC Jahurul Haque said, “The mobile operators should investigate where their SIM cards were sold, how these were used. They should be accountable to the BTRC.”

He also said, “The mobile operators may face legal action under the telecom act.”

The government has recently announced the international and domestic call rates. As per this announcement, minimum domestic call rates stood at 45 paisa per minute, whereas the share of mobile operators from international incoming calls is 33 paisa per minute. Consequently, many of those involved are getting more inclined to run VoIP business in the guise of domestic calls, rather than international incoming calls.

MK

 

Thousands of crore taka drained away

illegal VoIP

The government is incurring losses of revenue worth thousands of crore taka every year owing to the rampant rise in illegal VoIP calls, which also puts a dent on the business of the organisations authorised to provide International Gateway services. Bangladesh Telecommuni-cations Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has conducted many drives to stop this illegal business, but to no avail. When approached over the matter, BTRC Chairman Jahurul Haque said, The Commission took several actions against it (illegal VOIP) in October and November, 2018. But we are yet to make any breakthrough. Immediate past Director General (Eng and Operations) of BTRC Brig General Mustafa Kamal said, If only one lakh VoIP SIM Cards are used daily, the country incurs a revenue loss worth Tk 2,500 crore every year. Experts opined that illegal VoIP business has even reached the rural areas thanks to the ubiquity of the mobile internet. The regulatory authority and law enforcing agencies have seized illegal VOIP equipment even from rural areas in Dhaka and Chittagong. These illegal VOIP operations became more evident at times when the BTRC slowed down the 3G and 4G Internet during the last few years. Md. RezaulQader, Commissioner of BTRC, said, The High Speed Mobile Broadband (3G/4G) speed was slowed down for three consecutive days starting from the day before the recently held national parliamentary election. During that period, the number of international incoming calls rose by 100 percent on average. This rise in international incoming calls is partly attributed to the fact that customers were unable to call using mobile apps. But, the lions share of the calls was caused due to the unavailability of illegal VoIP services. It implies that the countrys illegal VoIP is on the rise owing to the 3G and 4G mobile broadband. Consequently, those doing business legally are incurring a loss, the government is shorn of its deserved revenue and the national security is coming under threat. Brig General Mustafa Kamal also said, Militants are getting involved in illegal VoIP to catalyze their income. Therefore, the commission is pondering on pressing charges of money laundering and other criminal offenses in addition to filing traditional cases. Two drives conducted between October and November 2018 revealed that SIM cards of the countrys mobile operators are widely used in illegal VoIP business. Of the 53,000 SIMs confiscated during the drives, 21,018 were accounted for by Teletalk, 20,709 by Robi, 6,602 by Banglalink and 4,647 by Grameenphone. At a press conference following the raid, the Chairman of BTRC Jahurul Haque said, The mobile operators should investigate where their SIM cards were sold, how these were used. They should be accountable to the BTRC. He also said, The mobile operators may face legal action under the telecom act. The government has recently announced the international and domestic call rates. As per this announcement, minimum domestic call rates stood at 45 paisa per minute, whereas the share of mobile operators from international incoming calls is 33 paisa per minute. Consequently, many of those involved are getting more inclined to run VoIP business in the guise of domestic calls, rather than international incoming calls. MK