BIJAY DAMASE
Ncell, a leading private sector telecommunication service provider in Nepal, has yet to receive an instalment facility from the government to renew its licence for the third time.
Ncell needs to renew the licence by September 1 this year to extend its operation for the next five years.
Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), the country’s telecom regulator, has said that Ncell needs to pay a total of Rs 23 billion, including Rs 3 billion in fines, for the renewal.
People privy to the matter say that Ncell has requested NTA twice, in writing, to make payments in five instalments in five years, saying it was not financially strong to make the full payment at once.
But, the government is yet to take a decision in this regard, increasing the possibility that Ncell will fail to meet the renewal deadline amid growing burden of fines.
Earlier on May 27, Ncell submitted an application with a fee of Rs 4 billion.
Section 12 (3) of the Telecommunication Regulations states that an application should be made with the renewal fee three months before the licence period ends. Therefore, Ncell paid an instalment on May 27.
However, if the licence is not renewed within the deadline, Ncell will be charged an additional amount equal to 15% of the renewal fee for the licence renewal.
Ncell has to pay a fine of Rs 3 billion for not paying the total amount three months before the deadline.
But the NTA has rejected Ncell's request saying that its licence will be renewed only after it pays a total of Rs 20 billion for the five-year renewal and other fines.
Santosh Paudel, spokesperson at NTA, said that Ncell’s licence will not be renewed until it pays the full amount.
Stating that the authority cannot provide an instalment facility, Paudel added that the NTA has rejected Ncell’s request.
Meanwhile, NTA has informed the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology about Ncell’s request for an instalment facility.
“It can get the instalment facility if the cabinet decides,” Paudel told New Business Age. “But, the NTA cannot make such a decision on its own.”
According to the NTA, Ncell did not pay the required fee by May 29 as per the law and if it wants to renew it now, it will have to pay a fine as well.
“Since the Telecommunication Law does not talk about the topic of instalment, we do not recognise it,” said Paudel, also the Director of the Legal and License Division at NTA. “If Ncell pays another Rs 3 billion (15% of the renewal fee) in addition to Rs 16 billion in renewal fee within September 1, its licence will be renewed. Otherwise, it will be revoked.”
A person close to Ncell told New Business Age, on condition of anonymity, that the government had given the telecom service provider the facility to pay Rs 20 billion in five instalments at a rate of Rs 4 billion, when its licence was renewed earlier.
Ncell has asked for a similar facility, he added.
“However, the regulator has asked Ncell, in writing, to pay the total amount in lump sum,” he said. “The ministry and NTA are all trying to avoid it by saying they have no jurisdiction to provide the instalment facility."
Ncell sources accused the government and the regulator of not treating the private and government-owned telecommunication service providers equally.
It is a discriminatory behaviour to not charge Nepal Telecom any fine or interest when it was late in paying the renewal fee by five years, but to make Ncell pay Rs 20 billion and other dues in advance.
“While Nepal Telecom initially paid only Rs 189 million for their third renewal, we have been saying that we will pay Rs 4 billion in advance," he said. “On the contrary, we have been told that we have to pay a fine of Rs 3 billion,” said the source.
Ncell, which got the licence for providing cellular mobile services on September 1, 2004, renewed its licence for the first time in 2014 and for the second time in 2019.
According to the decision of the then Council of Ministers, the telecom companies were given the facility to pay the renewal fees in instalments.
Nepal Telecom, which paid the third renewal fee only last month, had also made strong efforts to get the instalment facility like in previous renewals. However, after the government's instruction to pay the total amount at once, it deposited the amount, which should have been paid in 2019 in the first place, in the NTA’s account one day before the end of its 25-years licence period in the second week of May.
The situation of Ncell will worsen if the government does not provide an instalment facility, people aware of the matter at Ncell claimed.
A senior official at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology said that they do not have the authority to provide instalment facilities. However, NTA is itself a competent body, so it can take a decision on the instalment plan, the official added.
“We cannot interfere with NTA, we do not have the right to make decisions about instalments," said the ministry official. “Officials of the Ministry of Communication say that even though Ncell has asked for an installment facility, it is not meaningful. According to a source close to the Minister for Communications, no proposal has yet reached the Council of Ministers to take a decision on giving installments. A source close to the ministry said that the Minister for Communications has not paid attention to this speculating manipulation.
