Mobile phone traders observe shutdown over NEIR reforms

Mobile phone traders across Bangladesh staged a day-long shutdown and formed a human chain in Dhaka on Sunday, pressing for sweeping reforms to the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR), a fair and consistent tax structure, and an end to what they describe as a growing monopolistic grip on the country's mobile phone market.

The protest, organised by the Mobile Business Community Bangladesh (MBCB), began around 9am near the Karwan Bazar-Panthapath intersection, drawing hundreds of "unofficial" mobile phone traders, shop owners and employees from across the capital.

Traders kept most mobile phone outlets shut nationwide in solidarity with the programme announced a day earlier.

Holding banners and placards, demonstrators demanded that the government postpone the planned launch of the NEIR system, scheduled for 16 December, until all stakeholders - including the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the Ministry of Commerce and mobile traders - sit together to resolve concern over taxation, imports and alleged syndicate control.

Speaking at a rally, MBCB President Mohammad Aslam said traders were not opposed to regulation but were struggling under what he termed as an unworkable tax burden and discriminatory policies.

"We urge the government not to launch the NEIR system. We want the NBR, BTRC, the Ministry of Commerce, and ourselves- the traders - to sit together. We want a proper solution and simplification of the process," he said.

"More than 20,000 traders are involved in this business. A company importing phones pays a maximum of 15 per cent VAT, but we pay 57 per cent. How can business run like this? If taxes are too high, consumers will suffer," he added.

Aslam warned that if the government did not reconsider the implementation structure, traders would be compelled to intensify their movement. "We want to conduct business legally by paying taxes. But the current VAT rate makes legal import nearly impossible. We keep requesting a fair opportunity, but we don't know why no one is listening."

MBCB Senior Vice-President Shamim Molla alleged that the NEIR system, as currently designed by BTRC, would ultimately benefit a particular syndicate rather than the wider market.

"If a phone that costs Tk 20,000 today becomes Tk 30,000 tomorrow, ordinary people will have no choice," he said, claiming that influential quarters were backing the system for personal gain.

"Nine companies are spending more than Tk 110 million to implement the NEIR system. Doesn't BTRC have money? Why must they take money from businessmen to implement such a system?"

bdsmile@gmail.com