After the short-codes used by the government, the call cost of the short-code used in the private service sector has come down. With the exception of D-category entertainment, tourism and any other similar services, the short-code call charge (call per minute) has been reduced from Tk. 2 to Tk. 1.5.
The decision was taken at the 260th commission meeting of the telecommunications regulator BTRC. Later it has come into effective. As a result, service recipients are getting services at a lower cost than before.
It is learned that after several meetings with the mobile phone operators, the BTRC called for a charge of Tk. 1.5 and directed it to come into effect on October 10 last year. The mobile operators sent a letter to the commission on March 31 requesting it to be effective, citing four reasons. The commission considers this period as a long time and in the middle of last month, i.e., March 14, upgraded the system and directed that it be effective from March 15. According to him, the directive has been in effect since the middle of the last month.
According to sources, mobile phone operators get the bulk of the existing tariffs for voice calls per minute when sharing call center services through short-codes. The full cost is to be borne by the service recipient. The regulator considers these costs to be a barrier to accessing services to marginalized populations. For these reasons, the commission has already fixed the voice tariff (charge) of call center service at 45 paisa per minute to make the services of government agencies easily available. On the other hand, since the service of non-government organizations or institutions is taka 2 per minute, it becomes difficult to deliver it to the marginal service recipients. For these reasons, BTRC has taken initiative to reduce the charge of short-code service to provide the services of the concerned non-governmental organizations at minimum cost to the people of the country for solving various problems of daily life including education, health, agriculture, social awareness, business and trade.
It may be noted that, BTRC initially assigned 3-digit short-code numbers, later it went for 4-digit and now 5-digit short-code numbers are in use. And the charge of government short code is still valid at 45 paisa.
