Poor service drives 66,705 complaints against mobile operators

More than 66,000 complaints against Bangladesh’s four mobile operators reached the telecom regulator over five and a half years, with service quality emerging as the leading source of customer dissatisfaction.

Data from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) show that users lodged 66,705 complaints between January 2021 and June 2026. Of these, 65,856 had been resolved, while 849 remained pending.

Robi recorded the highest number of complaints at 24,874, followed by Grameenphone with 21,526, Teletalk with 11,594 and Banglalink with 8,711.

The figures look different when compared with the operators’ subscriber bases. Teletalk had the highest complaint rate at around 0.17%, followed by Robi at approximately 0.042%, Grameenphone at 0.025% and Banglalink at 0.023%.

Consumer advocates, however, argue that the official figures may not capture the full scale of customer dissatisfaction because many subscribers do not know how to escalate complaints to BTRC.

Mohiuddin Ahmed, president of the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumers Association, said the number of complaints could be much higher if more customers were able to lodge complaints with the regulator.

Service quality leads complaints

BTRC data for the 2024-25 fiscal year show that quality of service was the largest complaint category.

Of 11,427 complaints recorded during the year, 3,529 concerned Quality of Service, followed by 926 related to data speed, 811 to value-added services, 647 to package migration, 481 to data volume and 467 to recharge and billing.

Customers have reported weak network coverage, dropped calls, slow internet, disputed data consumption, unwanted services and unexpected deductions from their balances.

Another complaint concerns the expiration of unused data and talk-time. Some subscribers say they lose unused allowances when packages expire, despite having already paid for them.

Customers have also reported difficulties cancelling unwanted services and resolving disputed charges, with some saying they have to contact customer care repeatedly to address such issues.

Operators defend complaint handling

Mobile operators say customer complaints are taken seriously.

Grameenphone Head of Communications Sharafuddin Ahmed said the company gives importance to every customer complaint and works to resolve them.

Robi Chief Corporate and Regulatory Officer Sahed Alam said around 95% of complaints received through BTRC had been resolved. He also said more than 40% of issues raised by the regulator concerning Robi were investigative or inquiry-related.

BTRC Director (Service) Lt Col Md Kamrul Hasan Mamun disputed that characterisation, saying matters that are only investigative or inquiry-related would normally be expected to be addressed through customer service channels rather than reaching the regulator.

BTRC Chairman Major General (retd) Md Emdad Ul Bari said complaints reaching the commission generally represent a second level of escalation after customers have first approached mobile operators.

He said the regulator’s monthly complaint resolution rate had improved from around 45-50% previously to 69% in the previous month. However, infrastructure and network-related complaints can take considerably longer to resolve.

Questions over complaint accessibility

Consumer representatives say accessibility remains a major weakness in the complaint system.

Mohiuddin Ahmed called for district-level complaint facilities, greater public awareness of BTRC’s 100 short code and stronger technical capacity at the regulator.

Questions have also been raised over BTRC’s online public hearings. The Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumers Association said 848 people registered for a hearing in 2022, but only 94 participated. In 2025, nearly 3,500 people reportedly registered, while only a small number were able to speak.

The association has called for hearings to be expanded to district and divisional levels, alongside online and telephone participation. It also wants written submissions accepted and follow-up actions publicly disclosed.

The challenge for BTRC therefore extends beyond resolving the 66,705 complaints already recorded. Improving access to the complaint system could help the regulator identify recurring service problems and assess whether operators are addressing them effectively.