The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BRTC) has sought interest letters from domestic and foreign audit firms interested in auditing the accounts of mobile operators operating in Bangladesh.

Applicant audit firms must be registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB). In addition, the BTRC stipulates that institutions must submit a letter of interest jointly with a foreign consultant or audit firm. And foreign audit firms will act as partners of domestic firms. Interested parent organization should have at least 10 years of experience and associate firm should have at least 5 years of experience. Priority will be given to organizations that have worked in the telecom sector in the past.

In October 2011, a Bangladeshi audit firm, Fazal & Company, conducted an audit of Grameenphone on the basis of which BTRC had sent a letter to the company asking for Tk 3,034 crore. Then Grameenphone raised a question about the audit value of that domestic firm. In the end, the GP went to court with this. After that, the High Court gave ‘status quo’ on the letter given to Grameenphone by BTRC.

Mobile operators demanded an investigation by an international firm after the incident with the cellphone company audit.