Competition Commission will bring back competition in mobile banking services

Noting that a single company occupies 80 percent of the total market in the mobile banking sector, it will work to bring back competition in the sector, said Bangladesh Competition Commission Chairperson Mohammad Mofizul Islam. He made the remarks at a discussion held at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity Sagar-Runi auditorium on Saturday (September 25) on the role to be played by the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumers Association in creating market competition in mobile banking services. Speaking as the chief guest on the occasion, he said, "Although the Competition Commission Act was enacted in 2012, we have been working since 2020." It is true that we still have a huge shortage of manpower so lacking in activities as well. In mobile banking services we knew there was competition between ten companies. But later we surveyed the field and found that a single company occupies 80 percent of the total market. The Commission will work on this matter expeditiously. We will also look into the issue of service charge so that it is within the reach of the people. However, as Bangladesh Bank and the Ministry of Finance are regulators in this sector, they need to play a leading role in this regard. “We do a lot of good work,” he added. But things do not come to peoples’ attention. For example, we have filed a case against Evaly 8 months ago. We will give the verdict in a short time. Customers and stakeholders are requested to come to us and complain. As a special guest on the occasion, BTRC Vice Chairman Subrata Roy Maitra said, "We only provide network transmission services in the mobile banking sector." There is still some insecurity as while biometric registration was done, one person used his NID for registering several SIMs and other persons used that SIM. We have been working on the issue since we took charge. He urged the Competition Commission, Bangladesh Bank and all concerned to consider how to further reduce the service charges in mobile banking services to protect the interests of the customers. "I have been involved in the commission's legislation since 2008," said Barrister Dr. Turin Afroz. “But the commissions themselves have turned into ‘toothless, nail-less’ commissions because they are not strong. The Competition Commission needs to play a stronger role in curbing the dominance of the monopoly. He added that if the price of any commodity in India goes up from 25 paisa to 50 paisa, the citizens of India immediately jump into the movement. But due to lack of customer coordination in Bangladesh, various companies and monopolies in the market are pursuing their own interests. Khaled Mahmud, an IBA professor at Dhaka University, said the role of the Bangladesh Bank and the Ministry of Finance should also be considered in how a company has long dominated and levied high service charges. SM Nazir Hossain, vice-president of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, said that if discipline was not restored quickly in the mobile banking sector, it would have the same consequences as e-commerce. The Competition Commission has a role to play in bringing competition to the market by reducing service charges by bringing the rapidly dominating market into the limelight and keeping other smaller companies competitive. Journalist Abdur Rahim Harmachi said it was important to bring more new investments in the mobile banking sector, including the operators who could not compete to restore order in the sector. For example, he said that at one stage of time, a mobile operator in Bangladesh used to charge a service charge of Taka 10. It has been reduced to 45 paisa now. This is only possible because of the competition among other operators. So even if competition is brought in the mobile banking sector, its service charge will come down quickly. Mohiuddin Ahmed, president of the organizing body, said, "For a long time we have been demanding that there is no alternative to creating market competition by reducing service charges to benefit marginalized people." He further said that in order to implement the plan of Hon'ble IT Adviser to build Cashless Bangladesh, there is no alternative but to reduce the service charge on mobile banking services and create market competition. Advocate Abu Bakkar Siddique, General Secretary of the organization presented the keynote address at the event. Besides, various well-wishers including customers spoke on the occasion.