NTA orders delinquent contributors to pay 50pc fine

KATHMANDU, NOV 26 -

The Nepal Telecommunications Authority ( NTA ) has directed telecom companies, satellite phone service providers and internet service providers (ISPs) who have not contributed to the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund (RTDF) to pay the outstanding amount plus a 50 percent fine.

A majority of ISPs in particular have been defying the NTA ’s repeated calls to give to the RTDF. As per the RTDF Bylaw implemented last year, if a licensee does not contribute 2 percent of its total income to the fund by mid-November, it will have to pay a fine amounting to 50 percent of the outstanding dues.

The Internet Service Providers’ Association of Nepal has condemned the penalty provision terming it impractical and demanded that it be cancelled. NTA licencees are required to contribute 2 percent of their total annual income to the RTDF by mid-October.

“We have informed all the licensees who have not contributed to the fund on time to pay the penalty,” said NTA director Purushottam Khanal. He added that the regulator could impose a fine of up to 200 percent if the dues remain unpaid till the end of the fiscal year.

ISPs said that the government normally used to allow them to pay the contribution till mid-January each year. Of the four dozen ISPs in the country,

almost all of them will have to pay the penalty. Large ISPs like Mercantile Communications, World Link, Vianet and Subisu Cable Net have also not made their contributions on time, according to the NTA .

“The NTA has imposed such a huge fine without prior consultation which has left a negative impact on ISPs,” said Binay Bohara, president of the Internet Service Providers’ Association of Nepal. He added that the government had applied pressure on them without providing sufficient time to prepare their financial reports and calculate the amount of their contributions.

Currently, the government has Rs 5.63 billion in the RTDF. It has been planning to spend the money on the district optical fibre programme, connect school and connect community programme and making ICT and telecom services available to disabled persons.

The NTA expects contributions excluding fines of more than Rs 1.25 billion to the RTDF. Officials added that Nepal Telecom and Ncell, being huge revenue earners, had given more than Rs 550 million to the RTDF from their income last year.

Source: The Kathmandu Post