Bangladesh regulator fines operators over illegal VoIP SIM use

Details: Manny Pham; Category: Regulation; 27 July 2026; 4339 views

Bangladesh's telecommunications regulator has fined the country's four mobile operators a combined BDT86.8 million (US$710,000) after identifying thousands of SIM cards allegedly being used for illegal international call termination via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) imposed fines of BDT10,000 for each SIM card found to have been involved in the activity, with a total of 8,682 SIMs identified.

Robi Axiata received the largest penalty of BDT59.35 million after 5,935 SIMs were found to have been used for illegal VoIP. Banglalink was fined BDT18.82 million for 1,882 SIMs, while state-owned Teletalk received a BDT6.81 million penalty for 681 SIMs. Grameenphone was fined BDT1.84 million after 184 SIMs were identified.

According to local newspaper The Daily Star, the SIM cards were identified during two joint enforcement operations carried out by the BTRC and the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) in the districts of Cumilla and Chattogram.

The regulator said the operators had failed to implement measures required under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulation Act, their licence conditions and previous regulatory directives to prevent customer SIM cards from being misused for illegal VoIP call termination.

The BTRC has instructed the operators to pay the fines and submit proof of payment within 10 days, warning that further legal action could follow if they fail to comply. Cases have also been filed in the jurisdictions where the SIM cards were seized.

The operators have disputed the penalties.

Banglalink said it had consistently taken steps to prevent SIM misuse and claimed that most of the affected SIM cards had already been detected and deactivated through its own systems before the regulator took action, describing the fine as "unwarranted".

Grameenphone said it complies with the BTRC's self-regulation measures and biometric SIM registration requirements, adding that customers found to be misusing verified SIM cards should be held accountable.

Robi's chief corporate and regulatory officer, Shahed Alam, said the operator had not yet received an official notice from the regulator. He added that more than 95% of the SIMs referenced in media reports had already been blocked through the company's own self-regulatory systems.