SC issues show cause notice to govt

KATHMANDU, AUG 21 -The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a show cause notice to the government in two cases filed against the penalty provision in the fees for the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund (RTDF).

The provision allows the government to impose a 25-200 percent fine on its licencees, including telecom operators and internet service providers (ISPs), for late submission of the fee. The dispute over the penalty provision between the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) and its licencees has been continuing for last one year.

After Ncell filed a case seeking the cancellation of the provision some eight months ago, United Telecom Limited (UTL) and Subisu Cable Net, one of the largest ISPs of the country, also filed separate cases in the court last week seeking an interim stay order.

Responding to the cases filed by UTL and Subisu, a single bench of justice Kalyan Shrestha on Monday issued the show cause notice to the Prime Minister’s Office and the NTA asking them to furnish reasons for implementing the provision.


The SC had also issued the show cause order earlier in the case filed by Ncell. The hearing on Ncell’s case is scheduled for September 5, 2013, according to the NTA.

Telecom companies and ISPs have been arguing the fine provision was against the law and the three-month time provided to clear the fee is not appropriate. Under the Telecommunication Act 1997, NTA’s licencees are required to contribute 2 percent of their total income to the RTDF each year. Form the income of the licencees during fiscal year 2011-12, NTA collected Rs 1.29 billion in RTDF fee last fiscal year. In a bid to collect the fee within first three months of each fiscal year, the authority last year implemented the RTDF Bylaw 2012 that has provisioned up to 200 percent fine for late payment of the fee.

The licencees, however, have been saying their annual audit does not finish within the first three months of the fiscal year, according to the NTA. After almost of all the licencees, including six telecom companies, failing to clear the RTDF fee within the given time frame, they were imposed up to 200 percent fine the last fiscal year.

Surya Lamichhane, assistant director at the NTA, said they collected around Rs 180 million in fines.

He said the bylaw has provisioned 25 percent fine for the failure to clear the fee within three months after the end of the fiscal year; 50 percent for not clearing the fee within six months; 100 percent within nine months; and 200 percent fine if not cleared the fee within a year after the end of the fiscal year.