The High Court on Monday issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to explain why the 1% surcharge collected from mobile phone users to fund the construction of the Padma Bridge should not be stopped.
A bench of Justice Fatema Najib and Justice Md Hamidur Rahman issued the rule following a writ petition filed by the consumer rights organisation, Conscious Consumers Society (CCS).
Supreme Court lawyer AKM Azad Hossain stood for the writ petitioner.
On 10 July, CCS Executive Director Palash Mahmud submitted the petition.
On 4 June, CCS issued a legal notice to several authorities, including the secretaries of the finance, law, and telecom ministries; the secretaries of the Bridges Division and Internal Resources Division; the chairmen of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC); and the CEOs of Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi, and Teletalk.
The notice demanded that the surcharge be withdrawn within seven days.
According to the notice, the government introduced the 1% surcharge in 2016 under the “Development Surcharge and Levy (Imposition and Collection) Act, 2015” to help finance the Padma Bridge.
Although the bridge was inaugurated in 2022, the surcharge remains in effect, with over Tk2,000 crore already collected from consumers, CCS claimed.
The notice further pointed out that while Section 4 of the 2015 Act allows the government to impose such surcharges for a specific purpose and duration through a gazette notification, no timeframe was mentioned in the relevant circular issued on 10 March 2016.
As a result, the surcharge has continued for nine years without any legal limit, which CCS argues is in violation of the law.
Terming the continued surcharge unlawful and detrimental to consumers’ rights now that the bridge is completed, CCS said it is pursuing legal action to protect the public interest.
LND/SAE
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