The telecom regulator has once again sought Bangladesh Bank's (BB) intervention to help realise Tk 254 million it deposited with Padma Bank, officials said.
Since 2017, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) had invested around Tk 380 million as term deposits in five branches of the Farmers Bank Limited, later reconstituted under the name Padma Bank Limited.
Of the amount, the bank, however, did not pay back the deposit to the tune of Tk 254 million held with its four branches despite completion of its tenure in December 2017.
The BTRC could retrieve Tk 126 million from the bank so far by sending repeated reminders, according to a letter forwarded last week to the central bank seeking its intervention.
The BTRC had deposited the money with rates of interest ranging between 8.0 per cent and 8.75 per cent.
BTRC director Aftab Md Rashedul Wadud mentioned in the letter that the commission sent letters several times to the branch managers, managing director, and chairman but got no response.
At one stage, the BTRC sent a demi official letter to the central bank governor and also to the Financial Integrity and Customer Services Department of Bangladesh Bank but to no avail.
On July 11 last, it submitted requisitions with the branches concerned for encashment of the fixed deposit receipts (FDR), but the authorities concerned are yet to honour those requisitions, the letter reads.
Mr Wadud said the commission has the legal bindings to deposit the collected revenue to the public exchequer every six months inline with the section 21 (4) of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, 2001.
The Posts, Telecommunication, Science, Information, and Technology Audit Directorate already raised an objection on non-payment of the amount to the exchequer while carrying out an audit for the fiscal year 2020-21, reads the letter.
Padma Bank chairman Dr Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat could not be reached over telephone for a comment on this despite several attempts.
However, deputy managing director of Padma Bank Mohammed Emtiaz Uddin contacted the FE and said the bank has already paid back all the general depositors' money that the Farmers Bank owed.
He further informed the FE that Tk 5.0 billion has been paid back to the government institutions and "the rest will also be returned if the bank remains functional".
"We already paid back a portion of money to almost all the institutions including Titas Gas," he added.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
