Bangladesh’s National Board of Revenue (NBR) has sent a letter to Grameenphone, the country’s leading mobile operator, seeking arrears of Tk 140 crore in arrears of VAT. The Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) on Wednesday issued a letter setting a one-week deadline for depositing the money. The NBR may also take tough steps to seize Grameenphone’s bank account if it does not receive its dues.

The company had earlier written to the GP seeking a refund of VAT rebates on second-generation (2G) network licenses. However, Grameenphone took a stay order from the court at that time. The operator, which has one of the strongest networks in the country, later appealed as the High Court order did not go in the company’s favor. But since the Appellate Division gave a “no-order” to the GP’s application, there is virtually no legal impediment for the NBR to get the money.

LTU-VAT Additional Commissioner Wahida Rahman Chowdhury yesterday Ittefaq He said, “There is no obstacle for them to get the arrears as they have given no-order on the application of Grameenphone from the Appellate Division. I have written to them to pay this within a week. If they do not pay within this period, their bank account may be seized.

The newspaper further quoted the source as saying, ‘Grameenphone pays the 2G license to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). From there they get VAT rebate. However, the NBR’s comment is that BTRC is not the appropriate authority to grant VAT. So they can’t give this money discount and this money is not discountable. Later, the NBR sent several letters to Grameenphone for the arrears.

Besides, NBR has also sent letters to three other mobile companies operating in Bangladesh, Citycell, Banglalink and Robi, asking for arrears of Tk 161 crore for SIM sales. Of this, Citycell owes Tk 23.53 crore, Banglalink owes Tk 72.32 crore and Robi owes Tk 90.69 crore.