ISPAN asserts – no unnecessary fees charged to internet customers, royalties submitted to the govt

KATHMANDU: The Internet Service Providers Association of Nepal (ISPAN) has been accused of not charging customers unnecessary fees.

ISPAN, in a statement, has claimed that customers have not been charged royalties and the Rural Telecommunication Development Fund (RTDF) under non-telecommunication services, including support and maintenance.

Internet service providers have informed the government about the royalties and fees collected from customers in accordance with the fees taken from customers as per the law.

With the amendment to Rule 15 of the Telecommunication Regulations 2054, a provision allows for the imposition of up to a 50% maintenance fee on the fees collected for providing fixed wired broadband services under telecommunication services.

Following a ministerial decision on Shrawan 14, 2076 (30 July, 2019), this arrangement was published in the gazette on Shrawan 15. Sudhir Parajuli, the president of ISPAN, mentioned in the statement issued that telecommunication companies have operated in accordance with this arrangement.

“In the press release, ISPAN stated, ‘The reason for not imposing RTDF and royalties on customers, as mentioned in the notice, is also to inform that service providers have not included those fees in their cost prices.’ The definition of telecommunications services provided under Section 2(g) of the Telecommunications Act 2053 and Schedule (k) of the Telecommunications Rules 2054 explicitly states that maintenance and support of telecommunications services, as well as non-telecommunications services, are well known not to fall within the scope of telecommunications services.”

According to Rule 26 of the Telecommunications Regulations 2054, there is a provision that the licensee has to pay an amount equal to four percent of the annual total income as royalty every year. Ispan claims that maintenance is a non-telecommunications service and does not require royalties.

According to Regulation 5 (1) of the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (Rural Telecommunication Development Fund) Regulation 2068, the licensee must deposit two percent of the annual income received from the telecommunication services he operates into the Rural Telecommunication Development Fund. But since maintenance and maintenance are non-telecommunications services, ISPAN has argued that it should not be explained under the title of RTDF.

It has been stated that instead of encouraging telecommunications companies, who have invested billions of dollars in telecommunications services over the last two and a half decades, they have been blamed.

Regarding RTDF and royalties, the Public Accounts Committee’s 20th, 21st, and 22nd reports directed to reduce the cost of Beruju and recalled that it had already been reduced.

Release:-