Draft telecom policy keeps door open for monopoly
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s (BTRC) draft policy to reform its complex licensing regime arrives with bold promises — streamlining processes, encouraging competition, and attracting foreign investment.
14 May 2025, 18:00 PM
Govt’s bank borrowing target may shrink in next budget
The government is planning to significantly reduce its bank borrowing target in the upcoming fiscal year as it aims to narrow the budget deficit by scaling down the overall budget size.
13 May 2025, 18:00 PM
Starlink gets 90-day waiver to operate without local gateway
The internet regulator in Bangladesh has granted Starlink permission to supply bandwidth from outside the country for 90 days.
12 May 2025, 18:00 PM
Budget to shrink amid fiscal strain
Bangladesh’s interim government is preparing to unveil a rare contractionary budget on June 2, driven by a sharp rise in interest payment that is crowding out fiscal space and forcing spending cuts.
10 May 2025, 18:00 PM
BBS finally empowered to publish data independently
As part of policy reforms aimed at improving the credibility and accuracy of national statistics, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has been empowered to publish official data without prior government approval.
8 May 2025, 18:00 PM
Local handset production drops as grey market expands
Handset production in Bangladesh declined significantly in the first quarter of 2025 as the grey market continued to dominate the domestic market.
29 April 2025, 18:00 PM
BTRC to ask Banglalink to pay at least Tk 70cr in tower sale fees
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has decided to issue a final directive to Banglalink Digital Communications Ltd, asking the mobile operator to deposit 5.5 percent of the total value of its tower sales, along with all applicable VAT and late fees, to Summit Towers Limited within ten working days.
28 April 2025, 18:00 PM
BTRC approves licence for Starlink
This is the swiftest recommendation from the BTRC for any such licence, according to a BTRC official.
27 April 2025, 18:00 PM
Officials to be trained to speed up project implementation
The finance ministry is initiating a training programme on procurement and financial management procedures for officials of the Health Service Division (HSD) in a bid to improve their efficiency.
29 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Big promise, bigger deception
It calls its hefty discount offers tornado, typhoon, kalbaishakhi (Nor’wester), conflagration and Tufan (hurricane) and sells mobile phones, flats, cars and whatnot.
27 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Remedy exists in law to recoup customers’ money
There are ways for online shoppers to get back their money stuck with some e-commerce platforms under the existing laws. But they will have to abandon the hope of retrieving all of their funds, said a legal expert.
25 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Another e-commerce scam unfolding
Qcoom has suspended its physical operations after hundreds of customers thronged its office in Dhaka, demanding products or refunds amid the e-commerce platform’s failure to make deliveries within the promised dates despite receiving payments in advance.
23 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Chorus of complaints against rogue e-commerce firms
Lured by hefty discounts at e-commerce platform Eorange, Md Sahedul Islam, a private firm employee with a Tk 15,000 monthly income, borrowed Tk 13 lakh from family members, relatives and colleagues to make advance payments for five motorcycles in May and another three in June.
20 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Laws inadequate to protect rights of e-commerce customers
Existing laws need to be amended while new ones formulated to establish a robust system of clear, enforceable rules creating obligations on e-commerce platforms to adhere to a set of uniform rules on payment and delivery.
19 September 2021, 18:00 PM
State enterprises’ profit drops 21pc
The profits of state-owned enterprises plummeted in the last fiscal year as their incomes took a beating from the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
19 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Contactless cards gaining traction amid Covid, digital push
Banks and non-banks are increasingly introducing contactless credit cards in Bangladesh as the tap-and-pay technology allows users to make payments digitally and avoid close contact with the staff of stores during in-person purchases.
15 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Suffering lingers for duped e-commerce customers
Md Nabid Rahman, employed at a private company in Dhaka, made a payment of Tk 12.5 lakh to e-commerce platform Dhamaka in March for two motorcycles and other products which were on offer at hefty discounts.
13 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Customers suffer as Nagad blocks accounts alleging suspicious transactions
A number of customers of Nagad have alleged that they were facing troubles in carrying out transactions on their accounts as the mobile financial service provider has suspended them on suspicion of unusual transactions with e-commerce platforms.
7 September 2021, 18:00 PM
ShopUp raises $75m in investment
The country’s largest business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform, ShopUp, yesterday said it raised $75 million or nearly Tk 640 crore in its latest round of fund-raising as it looks to ramp up its operation by bringing small neighbourhood groceries and small retail shops online.
7 September 2021, 03:14 AM
Consumer complaints rising
Rights violations have compounded sufferings of consumers in Bangladesh, with the number of complaints rising a staggering 61 per cent in the span of a year.
5 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Tourism coming out of woods
Business of hotels and resorts in tourist destinations is rebounding slowly as the Delta Covid-19 variant and dengue have turned customers very cautious over whether they would go on holidays.
26 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Autogas use on the way up
The number of refuelling stations for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or autogas and its consumption are growing fast with the big LPG players ramping up their operations as the government looks to cut dependency on other fossil fuels.
25 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Hi-tech relief from perennial pain
Getting her period at work has always made garment worker Roksana Aktar uncomfortable.
23 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Women more into mobile internet
Women in Bangladesh have increased and diversified their use of mobile internet services ever since the Covid-19 outbreak began as social distancing restrictions in particular have led to a rise in video calls, social media use and viewing of online videos, according to a survey.
22 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Evaly’s liabilities Tk 543cr, higher than BB finding
Beleaguered e-commerce platform Evaly, which faces inquiries by the government, said its liabilities to customers and merchants stood at Tk 543 crore as of mid-July, which is 35 per cent higher than the amount found by an initial probe of Bangladesh Bank.
19 August 2021, 18:00 PM
City Group to build Tk 5,000cr hi-tech park
City Group, one of the country’s leading consumer goods processor and manufacturer, is to going to build a hi-tech park investing Tk 5,000 crore to manufacture technology products such as microprocessors, chips, circuits, mobile phones and laptops.
19 August 2021, 18:00 PM
‘Evaly has Tk 544 crore in liabilities'
Evaly has a liability of Tk 542 crore to its customers and merchants, a top official of the commerce ministry said today.
19 August 2021, 13:06 PM
Pran now will sell fried chicken
Top food processor Pran is planning to grab a big share of the country’s fast food market with a retail chain focusing on selling fried chicken defying the gloom of the pandemic.
18 August 2021, 18:00 PM