Staff Reporter :
Mobile traders and workers have blocked the road beneath Agargaon Metro Station in the capital, halting traffic flow.
The protest, which began after 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, follows traders’ demands for reduced import duties and six key points related to mobile phone regulations.
Earlier on Sunday, traders staged a sit-in near the BTRC building, which was cordoned off by police. The “Mobile Business Community Bangladesh” had earlier announced an indefinite nationwide mobile shop closure starting Saturday. Traders claim that implementing the new NEIR rule will harm many businesses, benefiting only a select group and driving up mobile phone prices due to increased taxes. Their six demands include abolishing mandatory contract rules between importers and local smartphone makers, reducing import duties to 15per cent for small and medium traders, government-funded implementation of NEIR, flexibility in selling unsold phones, public demos before NEIR rollout, and simplifying the BTRC vendor enlistment process.
