The long awaited Padma Bridge that we dreamt for long is going to be inaugurated on 25th June. After the inauguration of the bridge, it is possible to reduce the cost of using mobile phones, said Mohiuddin Ahmed, President of Bangladesh Mobile Phone Subscribers Association.
He made the remarks at a civic exchange meeting on Wednesday at the Feni Samiti in Purana Paltan to review the budget proposed by the NDM.
“We are proud of the country’s civil society and the countrymen for the mobile phone users also took their small part in the construction of this bridge. Thanks to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the government for successfully completing of such a project.
The government has been levying a 1% surcharge for the construction of the Padma Bridge for talking over mobile phones and using data since the 2012-13 financial year. The amount is about 260 crore Taka per year. In other words, the amount contributed by the customers on the Padma Bridge is about Tk. 2,600 crore so far. The amount of voice call and internet data recharge or business of four mobile phone operators of the country is around 25-26 thousand crore Taka per year. We are proud to be a small participant in the construction of this bridge and we will be successful for the rest of our lives as we are able to cooperate with the government. But now considering the economic situation, the cost and living of the consumers has increased. Since the Padma Bridge is going to be inaugurated on 25th June. Therefore, we request the government not to collect the 1% surcharge collected from the customers from the day of inauguration of Padma Bridge. And if the surcharge is not collected then it is possible to reduce the cost. We promise that we will continue to participate in such mega projects in the future.
“Considering the current situation, we expect the directive to stop the collection of this money to be announced in the current budget session,” Mohiuddin added.
Bobby Hajjaj, president of a political party NDM, presided over the discussion.