March 6: Pokhara Metropolitan City has decided to ban paragliding in the city effective from Wednesday, March 6, stating that the paragliding companies have not paid the taxes while conducting commercial flights.

The metropolis decided to ban the adventure sport activity after the concerned entrepreneurs time and again defied its orders to pay the taxes.

The metropolitan city office has claimed that the paragliding companies in the scenic lake city have not paid their dues since the last three years.

According to the metropolis, paragliding companies have not even registered their business at the concerned municipal office.

Chief Administrative Officer of Pokhara Metropolitan City, Shes Narayan Poudel informed New Business Age that the metropolis had issued letters on January 3 to all the paragliding companies operating in Pokhara to pay taxes.

“We had given them a deadline to pay the taxes. Although the deadline has already expired, no one has come forward to pay the taxes,” said Poudel.

The concerned ward office had sent a letter on February 27, warning them of imposing a ban on paragliding if they do not pay the taxes within a week. The metropolis finally decided to ban paragliding after the entrepreneurs did not reciprocate to its letters.

As per government data, altogether 40 companies are operating paragliding in Pokhara while 60 such companies have acquired the license to operate paragliding from Pokhara-based civil aviation authority.

Chairman of Pokhara Metropolitan City ward-9, Rana Bahadur Thapa, said that only one out of 40 companies operating paragliding in Pokhara has been paying taxes so far.

“Mountain View Paragliding is the only company to pay taxes,” said Thapa.