BTRC fines 3 VAS firms for activating services without users’ consent  

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has fined three telecommunication value added service (TVAS) companies for violating several rules, including activating services without customers' consent.

The companies are Miaki Media Limited, Win Miaki Ltd, and Binbit Mobile Entertainment Limited, reads a BTRC press release issued on Saturday.

The BTRC did not disclose the amount of fines due to technical reasons.

The commission has the authority to impose fines as high as Tk300 crore, said Md Zakir Hossen Khan, deputy director and spokesperson for the BTRC.

Currently, there are 182 TVAS companies in the country that provide various services, such as welcome tunes, voice messages, news alerts, missed call alerts, music, videos, mobile games, streaming services, balance transfer, one-time password (OTP) for online business confirmation through mobile carriers, under a revenue-sharing model.

Customers are charged for these services by their mobile phone operators.

The BTRC recently received some allegations of anomalies against some TVAS companies, such as deducting money from customers' accounts by activating VAS services without their consent, activating unnecessary services, and not paying the money they owe to the commission.

Based on the allegations, the regulatory commission visited 11 TVAS companies and found that some of those were violating its rules.

The areas of violations include having no office in registered areas, providing services without taking service and tariff approvals from the commission, having no audit reports, and charging customers by activating services without their consent.

The BTRC then imposed administrative fines on the three aforementioned companies and action against others is in process, says the release.