NTA plans to audit billing system
KATHMANDU, SEP 8:
Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has said that an audit of the billing systems of the telecom service providers has become essential to maintain transparency in transaction.
An audit of the billing systems is in our annual programme, said director at the authority Ananda Raj Khanal, adding that NTA is mulling to deploy an independent auditing agency to check the entire billing system of the various telecom service providers.
Assigning an auditor to certify the metering and billing system of telecom operators has been realised by the
authority to bring in transparency and improve the quality of services for consumers, the authority said.
Asked on whether the authority will check the detail accounts of telecom service providers, spokesperson of NTA Kailash Prasad Neupane said that the authority has the right to check the entire balance sheet and billing details of telecom service providers according to the Telecommunication Act 1997 and the provision will be used if it receives any complaint.
The chances of revenue fraud in interconnection service to international call termination remains high since it is a highly technical issue, and the existing manual checking system of the regulator cannot detect the fraud, a source at NTA informed.
The regulatory authority does not have any code of practice and regulation for metering and billing accuracy, which is the authority’s weakness, he said, adding that the government too is not proactive in bringing such billing authentication system due to unwarranted influence from the telecom sector.
NTA had, a year back, tried to lower the tariff for interconnection service to international call termination, he said. “But, the telecom service providers started lobbying against the move and the regulator failed to approve the new tariff structure.”
Revision in the tariff structure in international call termination is a must to reduce the illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call bypass, he claimed.
The average charge of outgoing calls from Nepal is Re 1 to Rs 2, but the average rate of incoming calls is Rs 10 to Rs 16 which has fuelled the trend of VoIP and GoIP, according to him.
It is time to lower the tariff of international call termination due to the emerging trend of the GSM over Internet Protocol (GoIP) for illegal call bypass, he claimed.
Now, racketeers can operate illegal call bypass centres from outside the country, he said, adding that the trend will increase if the government does not take the initiative to lower the call termination cost.
Source: THT
