The government has decided to provide an instalment facility to Ncell to pay its licence renewal fee.
“A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Thursday evening (August 29) decided to allow Ncell to pay its licence renewal fee in four instalments,” said Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung, also the government’s spokesperson. “However, Ncell would be charged a 10% interest each on second, third and fourth instalments.”
The decision comes four days before the end of the deadline for the leading private sector telecommunication service provider to renew its operating licence for the third time. Ncell needs to renew the licence by Sunday (September 1) to extend its operation for the next five years.
Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), the country’s telecom regulator, had been saying that Ncell needed to pay a total of Rs 23 billion, including Rs 3 billion in fines, for the renewal.
Earlier on May 27, Ncell had paid a renewal fee of Rs 4 billion.
People privy to the matter had earlier told the NBA that Ncell had requested the NTA twice, in writing, to allow it to make payments in five instalments in five years, saying it was not financially strong to make the full payment at once.
But the NTA had rejected Ncell's request saying that its licence will be renewed only after it pays a lump sum of Rs 20 billion for the five-year renewal and other fines.
But, the regulator had informed the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology about Ncell’s request for an instalment facility.
Section 12 (3) of the Telecommunication Regulations states that a telecommunication service provider must apply for the licence renewal with the total fee three months before its licence period ends. Otherwise, the service provider will be charged a fine equal to 15% of the renewal fee.
Read: Government to Take Control of Ncell's Assets after 5 Years
People privy to the matter and close to Ncell had earlier accused the government and the regulator of not treating the private and government-owned telecommunication service providers equally.
They had said that It was 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.
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.
