Telenor Group, which owns Bangladesh's largest mobile operator Grameenphone (GP), says it has not served the president with a legal notice but sent an invitation for talks, news agency UNB reported citing a statement.
"Telenor Group sent an invitation letter for dialogue, and not a legal notice," a statement by the Norway-based telecom firm on Sunday quoted its Director for Group Communication Asia Cathrine Stang Lund.
It quoted her saying that such letters should be sent to heads of state according with the treaty process.
Telenor made Bilateral Investment Treaty with the Government of Bangladesh and the Government of Singapore.
On Thursday, Telecoms Minister Mustafa Jabbar disclosed that Telenor has sent a legal notice to President Md Abdul Hamid through a law firm in Singapore seeking arbitration with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) over its dues.
"It's Telenor Group's position that we believe the disputed audit should be solved through dialogue, and that an amicable and transparent solution should be reached between the authorities of Bangladesh and Grameenphone," the Telenor statement quoted Lund.
"It remains our hope that this can be solved without international arbitration. It's an agreement establishing the terms and conditions for private investment by nationals and companies of one state in another state," it added.
Bangladesh has around 30 bilateral investment treaty, the statement said before adding: "The procedures adhered to by Telenor are agreed in the treaty and Telenor is following due process."
"The process itself is governed by the treaty, and includes a period of six months for discussions after initial invitation letter, before any further steps towards international arbitration can be taken," the statement added.
On Nov 24, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court asked mobile phone operator Grameenphone to pay within three months Tk 20 billion of the nearly Tk 126 billion dues as claimed by BTRC.
The BTRC claimed the dues in 27 sectors from GP. Having failed to recover the money, the BTRC sent a notice to GP on Apr 2 threatening to revoke its licence.
Later, GP moved a lower court seeking a temporary injunction on the BTRC's notice which was turned down on Aug 28. Later, the telco moved the High Court.