Ncell clears royalty dues

KATHMANDU,JUNE 11: 

Ncell today cleared its committed royalty dues responding to the verdict of the Supreme Court.

The telecom service provider paid Rs 353 million royalty dues, said spokesperson at Nepal Telecommunications Authority Kailash Prasad Neupane, adding that the regulator had asked the company to clear its dues after the final verdict from the Supreme Court. 

Ncell had approached the Supreme Court seeking a level playing field. It had claimed that the notion of a level playing field was breached since other operators have been paying only four per cent of their total income as royalty.

As per licence conditions, Ncell is liable to pay either the committed royalty amount or four per cent of their total annual income, whichever is higher. 

However, the SC had recently issued a verdict making it mandatory for Ncell to pay the committed royalty. Of the total committed royalty of Rs 1.44 billion for fiscal years from 2005-06 to 2010-11, Ncell has already paid Rs 1.08 billion based on the provision of four per cent of the total annual income, Neupane informed.

Earlier, the government had asked the Nepal Telecommunications Authority to accelerate the collection of unpaid radio spectrum fees from local mobile network operators.

Following the court case that upheld that the telecom service providers should make full payment on the fees due, the NTA had been instructed to seek Rs 710 million ($8.4 million) and Rs 350 million from Nepal Telecom and Ncell, respectively.

The Nepal Telecom had only paid Rs 100 million of the Rs 810 million, it owed, and argues that it should not have to pay the fees as its licence was awarded under an earlier Radio Act. However, the telecom authority had countered that under the Telecommunications Act, all the companies are obliged to pay for spectrum allocations they hold.

Source: THT