BTTB realises Tk 40m outstanding bills from 418 ex-MPs
Thursday, 9 August 2007
Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) has finally made 418 unwilling former lawmakers pay Tk 40 million (4.0 crore) in outstanding phone bills until July 31, reports bdnews24.com.
The state-run telecoms provider's internal report reveals that it has realised Tk 17.20 million (1.72 crore) by serving legal notices and Tk 23.40 million (2.34 crore) after filing cases against the former members of Parliament who deliberately defaulted on clearing the bills.
"Some Tk 23.40 million (2.34 crore) has so far been collected from 169 lawmakers after filing the cases," a senior BTTB official, asking not to be named, told the news agency Tuesday.
"Additional Tk 17.20 million (1.72 crore) was collected after issuing notices against the defaulters."
"Such move has by far worked very well," another BTTB official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
The telecoms provider still buckles under Tk 91.30 million (9.13 crore) in bills unpaid by some 801 parliamentarians since independence.
Many of the legislators died but the BTTB is pressing their families to pay the outstanding bills.
It intensified its bill collection drive after the BNP-led coalition government ended its five-year term on October 28 last year. The Board has so far filed 338 cases to recover years-old pending bills amounting to Tk 57.50 million (5.75 crore).
BTTB's overall revenue collection has also risen from Tk 3.50 billion (350 crore) to Tk 16.66 billion (1,666 crore) in the fiscal 2006-07 compared with the previous year, official statistics said.
But it is way short of the revised revenue target of Tk 18.22 billion (1,822 crore).
According to official data, the BTTB raised some Tk 6.19 billion (619 crore) in revenue in the first half of the previous fiscal.
It, however, received Tk 10.47 billion (1,047 crore) in the second half because of the makeshift government's drive against corruption, officials said.
The state-run telecoms provider's internal report reveals that it has realised Tk 17.20 million (1.72 crore) by serving legal notices and Tk 23.40 million (2.34 crore) after filing cases against the former members of Parliament who deliberately defaulted on clearing the bills.
"Some Tk 23.40 million (2.34 crore) has so far been collected from 169 lawmakers after filing the cases," a senior BTTB official, asking not to be named, told the news agency Tuesday.
"Additional Tk 17.20 million (1.72 crore) was collected after issuing notices against the defaulters."
"Such move has by far worked very well," another BTTB official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
The telecoms provider still buckles under Tk 91.30 million (9.13 crore) in bills unpaid by some 801 parliamentarians since independence.
Many of the legislators died but the BTTB is pressing their families to pay the outstanding bills.
It intensified its bill collection drive after the BNP-led coalition government ended its five-year term on October 28 last year. The Board has so far filed 338 cases to recover years-old pending bills amounting to Tk 57.50 million (5.75 crore).
BTTB's overall revenue collection has also risen from Tk 3.50 billion (350 crore) to Tk 16.66 billion (1,666 crore) in the fiscal 2006-07 compared with the previous year, official statistics said.
But it is way short of the revised revenue target of Tk 18.22 billion (1,822 crore).
According to official data, the BTTB raised some Tk 6.19 billion (619 crore) in revenue in the first half of the previous fiscal.
It, however, received Tk 10.47 billion (1,047 crore) in the second half because of the makeshift government's drive against corruption, officials said.