KATHMANDU, OCT 25 -The government has not been able to enforce its long-planned get-tough policy to discourage imports of substandard mobile sets and stop illegal imports. The Nepal Telecommunications Authority ( NTA ) has once again extended the time period for temporary type approval certification (TAC) thus loosening imports and sales.
This is the fourth time that the NTA has extended the deadline saying that it needs more time to complete a new TAC guideline. Due to the extension, local mobile dealers will be able to import mobile sets without submitting the manufacturer’s safety certification and type approval certificate issued by an international regulator. This paperwork is vital for ensuring that the products being sold in the market satisfy the minimum regulatory, technical and safety requirements.
The NTA has extended the time by when importers will have to submit these documents till mid-July 2014, the end of the fiscal year. TAC is mandatory for import and sale of any model of handset in the domestic market.
Ananda Raj Khanal, acting chief of the NTA , said that enforcing the planned rules immediately could hurt customers who want cheaper handsets. He added that the temporary provision requires dealers importing handsets to provide warranty and repair service besides compensation for injury caused by faulty handsets.
Meanwhile, as part of the preparation regarding the new strict rule, the NTA has prepared a guideline which it will put to discussion and collect feedback, according to officials. Going by the Telecommunication Act 1997, mobile dealers are permitted to import and sell handsets only after they acquire TAC from the NTA .
NTA officials said the new guideline would set the minimum threshold for battery parameter and receiver sensitivity of handsets, among others. Normally, handsets without international brand recognition have less receiver sensitivity, and such sets do not have international certification too.
With the market witnessing imports of low quality handsets and smuggling from India and China, the authorities had long been planning to implement a strict rule which has raised concern among traders. The illegal trade has led to loss of revenue from customs duty for the government and jeopardized the safety of customers due to unrestricted sales of bad products.
It is estimated that over 30 percent of the total domestic demand is met by contraband handsets. NTA officials said that the practice of obtaining certification for new models arriving in the local market had been increasing with the government easing the paperwork and a growth in the number of mobile users.
“As of now, the number of handset models receiving TAC has reached more than 1,600,” said Binod Shrestha, assistant director at the NTA . He added that out of the models receiving certification, more than 300 had received permanent TAC that allows import and sales for up to five years. The certification issued to the others is valid for six months.
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