Economic Reporter :
Employees of Airtel who accepted voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) would get the full payment within 60 days of amalgamation of Robi-Airtel.
The merged entity would start the payment from the first day of amalgamation, as the operators are waiting for the official letter from the regulator to complete the process, said officials. Ekram Kabir, Vice President, Communications and Corporate Responsibility, Robi Axiata Limited, in a statement told the New Nation that “All the 396 permanent employees of Airtel were offered employment opportunity with the merged company Robi Axiata Limited.”
“But, 265 employees out of the total have accepted the offer while the remaining 131 employees have chosen to avail the Voluntary Separation Scheme.”
The deadline for submitting application to accept VRS ended on Tuesday, as the merger terms and conditions directed to give seven days for the process. The regulator -Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) made the VRS mandatory for the employees who wish to leave Airtel before completion of the merger.
Meanwhile, 265 employees of Airtel who wished to continue jobs have already collected appointment letter from Robi last week.
According to the Robi, top officials to manager level employees have accepted the VRS considering the benefit.
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Ashraful H Chowdhury, Chief Service Officer Rubaba Dowla and Head of Legal Sakib Sikdar are among the top officials who accepted VRS.
BTRC conditions directed the merged entity to submit report to the regulator after completing the VRS process.
“If any complexity is created during implementation of the VRS/VSS, the merged company would adopt necessary measures through the directives of BTRC,” said the Terms and Conditions (T&T).
It also said the jobs of Airtel employees who would join the merged company would be considered as the continuation of the service in Airtel.
The T&T also said in the next three years of the merger, the regulator has to be informed with specific reasons before any termination of Airtel employees who joined the merged company.
BTRC approved Bangladesh’s first ever merger proposal of two mobile phone operators – Robi and Airtel – on October 18.
It has approved four basics for the VRS to protect the employee’s interest. The High Court in August gave nod to the merger proposal.
On August 1, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also the Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, gave her consent to the amalgamation with merger fee of Taka 100 crore and per Megahertz 2G spectrum fee of Taka 33.8 crore.
At present, Airtel is using 15 MHz of 2G spectrum and its license would expire in 2020. If Robi acquires the entire spectrum, the operator has to deposit a total of Taka 507 crore to the telecom regulator.
Robi and Airtel opened talks on a possible merger at the end of August, 2015, and on January 28, the operators’ parent companies signed a deal to that effect. The merged entity will be the second largest operator in Bangladesh.
Employees of Airtel who accepted voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) would get the full payment within 60 days of amalgamation of Robi-Airtel.
The merged entity would start the payment from the first day of amalgamation, as the operators are waiting for the official letter from the regulator to complete the process, said officials. Ekram Kabir, Vice President, Communications and Corporate Responsibility, Robi Axiata Limited, in a statement told the New Nation that “All the 396 permanent employees of Airtel were offered employment opportunity with the merged company Robi Axiata Limited.”
“But, 265 employees out of the total have accepted the offer while the remaining 131 employees have chosen to avail the Voluntary Separation Scheme.”
The deadline for submitting application to accept VRS ended on Tuesday, as the merger terms and conditions directed to give seven days for the process. The regulator -Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) made the VRS mandatory for the employees who wish to leave Airtel before completion of the merger.
Meanwhile, 265 employees of Airtel who wished to continue jobs have already collected appointment letter from Robi last week.
According to the Robi, top officials to manager level employees have accepted the VRS considering the benefit.
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Ashraful H Chowdhury, Chief Service Officer Rubaba Dowla and Head of Legal Sakib Sikdar are among the top officials who accepted VRS.
BTRC conditions directed the merged entity to submit report to the regulator after completing the VRS process.
“If any complexity is created during implementation of the VRS/VSS, the merged company would adopt necessary measures through the directives of BTRC,” said the Terms and Conditions (T&T).
It also said the jobs of Airtel employees who would join the merged company would be considered as the continuation of the service in Airtel.
The T&T also said in the next three years of the merger, the regulator has to be informed with specific reasons before any termination of Airtel employees who joined the merged company.
BTRC approved Bangladesh’s first ever merger proposal of two mobile phone operators – Robi and Airtel – on October 18.
It has approved four basics for the VRS to protect the employee’s interest. The High Court in August gave nod to the merger proposal.
On August 1, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also the Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, gave her consent to the amalgamation with merger fee of Taka 100 crore and per Megahertz 2G spectrum fee of Taka 33.8 crore.
At present, Airtel is using 15 MHz of 2G spectrum and its license would expire in 2020. If Robi acquires the entire spectrum, the operator has to deposit a total of Taka 507 crore to the telecom regulator.
Robi and Airtel opened talks on a possible merger at the end of August, 2015, and on January 28, the operators’ parent companies signed a deal to that effect. The merged entity will be the second largest operator in Bangladesh.
