Following the release of the Supreme Court’s full verdict on the royalty dispute between internet service providers (ISPs) and Nepal Telecommunications Authority's (NTA), the ISPs are now preparing to ask the government for an installment payment facility.

Based on the Auditor General's annual report and the Public Accounts Committee's decision on the issue, Justice Nahakul Subedi ruled in favor of the government. Although the court issued the decision on May 12, the full text was only recently made public.

ISPs have been ordered to pay over Rs 4 billion in royalties to the government, which includes contributions to the Rural Telecommunication Development Fund (RTDF). The ISPs argued they should not be required to pay royalties and the RTDF fee on the “maintenance fee” charged to the customers. Worldlink Communications had filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court challenging the Nepal Telecommunications Authority's (NTA) decision to collect these fees. With the court’s recent ruling, ISPs are now required to settle their dues and are seeking to do so in installments.

"ISPs are obliged to pay, and we are preparing to request an installment facility," said a source from the Internet Service Providers Association of Nepal (ISPAN). The association plans to approach the government with this request immediately after Tihar.

NTA officials expressed frustration that ISPs had repeatedly ignored requests to pay the royalty and RTDF fees, which now total Rs 4 billion. NTA spokesperson Santosh Paudel noted that although the ISPs’ readiness to pay is positive, the NTA has no authority to offer installment facilities directly. "If a higher-level decision allows it, we can implement it," Paudel stated.

To pressure the ISPs, the government suspended foreign currency recommendations for ISPs’ international bandwidth payments over the past year, as ISPs had failed to fully pay their royalties and RTDF contributions. In May, Airtel, a major provider of internet bandwidth to Nepal, halted services due to unpaid fees from Nepali ISPs, leading to several instances of slow internet speeds across the country.

ISPs hope that an installment payment arrangement will allow them to fulfill their obligations while maintaining stable internet services for customers.