Bangladesh Competition Commission, the concerned authority of Bangladesh government, will work to bring back service charges and wider competition in mobile financial services (MFS), said BCC Chairperson Md Mofizul Islam.
He made the statement while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion meeting on “Responsibilities to Create Competition in Mobile Banking Services,” organized by Bangladesh Mobile Phone Users Association at Sagar-Runi Auditorium of Dhaka Reporters' Unity on Saturday morning.
He said “Although the Competition Commission Act was enacted in 2012, we started working from 2020. We still have a huge shortage of manpower. A survey of mobile financial services conducted at the field level found that a single company has occupied 80 percent of the total market. The Commission will work on this matter quickly. We will also look into the issue of service charge so that the people can afford it.”
He further said that as Bangladesh Bank and the Ministry of Finance are regulators in this sector, they need to play a leading role in this regard.
BTRC Vice Chairman Subrata Roy Maitra who was present as the special guest, urged the Competition Commission, Bangladesh Bank and all concerned to consider how to further reduce the service charges in mobile financial services to protect the interests of the customers.
Barrister Dr Turin Afroz said that the Competition Commission needs to play a stronger role in curbing the dominance of one service provider.
SM Nazir Hossain, vice-president of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh said that if discipline was not restored quickly in the mobile financial service sector, it would have the same consequences as e-commerce.
“The Competition Commission has a role to play in bringing competition in the market by reducing service charges and bringing the rapidly dominating market into accountability to help survive other smaller companies,” he added.
Mohiuddin Ahmed, president of Bangladesh Mobile Phone Users Association said that in order to implement the plan of Information and Technology Adviser to build cashless Bangladesh, there is no alternative but to reduce the service charge in mobile banking services and create market competition.