Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar has called on the Competition Commission to ensure that monopolies are not maintained in order to maintain competition in the market. The Minister expressed concern that such inequality and non-competition are being created in the market due to lack of interoperability.
“We have adopted a free market economy,” he said. Its main condition is competition. In order to maintain this, a commission like the Competition Commission has been formed so that there is no monopoly. So that no one alone can control the market. Because if there is no competition, people will suffer the most. I will definitely keep the competition alive and not allow it to become a monopoly.
The Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Mustafa Jabbar expressed his opinion while addressing as the chief guest at a webinar titled ‘Competition and Partnership: Context MFS’ organized by Telecom Reporters Network Bangladesh (TRNB) on Saturday. Policymakers and concerned persons of the country’s economic sector participated in the discussion.
Mustafa Jabbar said that in a country like China, there is a need to control the monopoly of giants like Alibaba. He drew the attention of the Competition Commission and said, “Don’t wait for the complaint. Because people are afraid of the process of complaining, they are also afraid of being harassed. So make sure that no one monopolizes the MFS market.”
Regarding the determination of charges for MFS, Minister Mustafa Jabbar said that the determination of charges is a matter of caution. Some are taking 20 Taka, some take 14 taka. This is being determined by the calculation of the concerned organization. I am in favor of setting the maximum charge of MFS, not the minimum charge. Because no one can take more if the maximum limit is set. It will benefit the people. He also mentioned that lack of interoperability in MFS was the biggest obstacle. He wonders why the interoperability is not being provisioned.
Speaking as the special guest on the occasion, Chairman of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Shamsunder Sikder said there was a monopoly in the MFS market in the country. Monopoly has been broken by ‘Nagad’. There must be competition. Although it has decreased a lot, there is still a monopoly. He said Bangladesh Bank had set a maximum limit of Tk 18.50 per thousand. But now Taka 20 is being taken. No one is protesting for one and a half Taka, but with one and a half taka, it becomes thousands of crores of taka. It’s being stolen directly. At the time, he emphasized the need to reduce MFS charges.
Former Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank Abul Kashem said in his speech that ‘bKash’ is losing, but BRAC Bank is not losing. I don’t think bKash is losing. Maybe they are showing a loss on the balance sheet. He said, is it not possible to put a banner of 18 taka 50 paisa in the bKash shop? Why 20 taka per thousand is being taken? bKash is a licensed organization. Why are they cheating billions of taka through them? This issue needs to be addressed.
Badiuzzaman Didar, Deputy General Manager, PSD, Bangladesh Bank, said, “We gave a sailing in 2011-12 so that it would not go overboard.” There are many sides involved with this. Pricing with everyone. We set the price by talking to the service providers. Maybe we can reduce the price. We will be able to do this when the whole market comes to the app instead of USSD. We also want the price to come down. It will benefit people more. If the price can actually be reduced, we will. We will reduce the price if it benefits the customers and service providers.
Competition Commission Chairman Mofizul Islam said it is the responsibility of the government to see if there are players in the market who are playing foul. No problem from the place of policy support. If the market is competitive, then the consumer benefits, while the supply chain or investors benefit. We have not received any complaints yet. The service charge fixed by Bangladesh Bank should not be more than Tk. 18. If this is not executed, Bangladesh Bank should take action.
Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, MD and CEO of Robi Axiata Limited and President of MTB, said, “We have been cooperating to keep the MFS running from the beginning. MFS in Bangladesh will not be like that in the future. When digital currency comes along, there will be no distributors. There are some more cost-cutting opportunities. Reducing costs will be good for customers.
Mizanur Rashid, Chief Commercial Officer, bKash, said, “We are taking this charge to make it more accessible. “If we set a new rate under the leadership of Bangladesh Bank for the welfare of the people of the country, then it should be business-friendly. In other words, the rate is good for the operators too.
TRNB General Secretary Sameer Kumar Dey read out the keynote address at the discussion, which was chaired by TRNB President Rashed Mehdi. Besides, BIBM Associate Professor Mahbubur Rahman Alam, Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Iftekhar Junaid and others took part in the discussion.