The Ministry of communication and information technology has drawn serious attention to the published news that some service providers who have been providing internet services in Nepal have stopped their service due to non-recommendation of foreign currency payment for bandwidth purchase.
Section 30 of the Telecommunications Act, 2053 and Rule 26 of the Telecommunications Regulations, 2054 stipulate that internet service providers charge a fee in advance from the customer for providing internet service within the country, 2 percent of the fee collected annually to the Rural Telecommunication Development Fund and 4 percent of the annual total income.
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In rule 26 of the regulation (1) according to sub-rules (5) and (6) of rule 10, the person who has received the license must pay an amount equal to 4 percent of his annual gross income to the Government of Nepal as royalty every year and if not paid within that period, at the rate of 2 percent of the remaining amount. Additional charges will apply each month.
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Clarification: For the purpose of this rule, ‘annual gross income’ means the income received by the licensee for providing telecommunication services excluding the amount received from the customer, service tax, value added tax and other indirect taxes and the amount received from the sale of telecommunication related equipment. refers to “There is a provision and the Nepal Telecommunication Authority has repeatedly requested the service providers to pay the fee for that connection.
Out of the 122 internet service providers and 23 network service providers registered with the Nepal Telecommunication Authority, apart from some internet service providers, other telecommunication service providers have submitted the fees to be paid according to the rules and recommended foreign currency of the service providers who pay the fees. It is being regularly recommended according to the legal provisions. It is earnestly requested to all concerned not to take any action to disrupt essential services such as internet by not paying the rural telecommunication development fee and royalty amount to the state as per the law from the fees collected in advance from the common consumers.
Press Release from Ministry:
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