The government has no plan to restrict free calling and messaging apps Viber, WhatsApp, WeChat and Imo, State Minister for Post and Telecommunications Tarana Halim has said.

“The government has decided to frame guidelines to stop illegal call termination through VoIP ... Communication apps will not be blocked ... There is no question about it,” she told reporters at her ministry office yesterday.

These communication apps would continue operation as usual, she added.

On Friday, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood said the communication apps were responsible for the decline in international call termination via the legal channel.

He also said the BTRC was going to develop guidelines for using these apps by two or three months.

Two years ago, the volume of daily incoming international voice calls was around 123 million minutes which currently came down to 70 to 80 million minutes, said the BTRC chief.

Not only illegal call termination through VoIP, but the extensive use of OTT [over-the-top] apps was also responsible for the decline in international call termination via the legal channel, he added.

Currently, there are six crore mobile internet users in the country and most of them use WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat and Imo for chatting, voice and video calls.