DSE calls for exempting brokerage houses from the purview
of incremental charge for development of the stock market
DHAKA, August 11, 2004: The premier bourse of the country
today said that the multi-metering billing system of Bangladesh
Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) is hurting development
of an orderly growth of capital market in Bangladesh.
It said that the Ministry of Science, Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) has classified the online
trading system of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) in ICT sector,
an acknowledgement needed to get exemption from the multi-metering
billing system. BTTB introduced the multi-metering system
from July 1, 2002 exempting Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) in line with government's policy to promote ICT
sector. Under the system, BTTB subscribers have to pay
Tk 1.50 for every five minutes during peak hours starting
from 8:00am up to 8:00pm. Subscribers are allowed to talk
for eight minutes for the same charge during off-peak
hours, from 8:00pm till 8:00am. With the introduction
of the system, some 35 members of the DSE who access the
trading engine of DSE through a wide area network (WAN)
find their bills to be creeping up since they have to
log onto the system throughout the trading hour.
A directive of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory
Authority (BTRA) on October 23, 2002 regarding the exemption
also continues to remain unheeded by the BTTB. Speaking
on the issue, Mr. Ahmed Iqbal Hassan, President of DSE
said: "The multi-metering system overburdens the therefore
for orderly growth of the capital market the brokerage
houses should be exempted from the BTTB multimetering
system."
He said the high telephone cost is ultimately borne by
the investors. "This is an impediment to the country's
capital market growth. This is unfortunate that when our
neighbouring countries are providing incentives to boost
growth of capital market, here we experience hindrance
that ultimately discourages investors from participating
in the nation building process through capital market."
Mr. Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, Chief Executive Officer of
DSE said, "The multi-metering system is obstructing expansion
of the capital market." He said DSE has plans to expand
its online trading to other cities but the BTTB billing
system is discouraging them as the cost gets unbearable.
The DSE CEO said: "It is imperative to ensure participation
of small investors from all over Bangladesh to support
industrialisation process. But the effort will prove futile
unless the BTTB exempts us from multi-metering system."
With BTTB's continued denial to exempt brokerage houses,
connected to DSE's online system through wide area network
(WAN), the cost of business continues to remain high,
hindering expansion within different areas of Dhaka City.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is also bearing
the brunt of the denial as the regulators has to remain
hooked with the DSE system to keep an online vigilance
of the market for five hours a day.
The denial is forcing each brokerage house connected through
the WAN to count about Tk 18 per hour which was earlier
only Tk 1.70 a day. The total monthly cost now stands
at about Tk 4,000 including 15 percent VAT. The country's
premier bourse DSE entered electronic age when it started
automated trading on August 10, 1998 providing online
trading through local area network and wide area network.
Of the total 165 active brokers, 35 uses WAN to avail
connection with the main server for online trading.
back
to top
|
