29th November 2021, Kathmandu
As per the decision of the cabinet meeting, NTA had given time to Nepal Satellite Plc to pay the arrears of Rs 1.38 billion in five years.
Accordingly, the company has paid the first installment at the end of Ashad 2077 BS and 215.1 million.
Similarly, the company had given time to pay Rs. 339.8 million in the second year, i.e., Rs. NTA spokesperson Santosh Poudel said that the decision was taken to revoke the license as it was not possible to extend the time due to non-payment of arrears.”
The license of Nepal Satellite Telecom Pvt. Ltd. has been revoked. A board meeting of the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) held on Friday, Mangsir 10, has revoked the license of Nepal Telecom for basic telecommunication services.
NTA has revoked the permit based on the decision made by the Council of Ministers of the Government of Nepal. In the decision, the government has given the facility to pay the amount in installments, and it is mentioned that the permit can be revoked if the installment amount is not paid.
According to NTA board sources, based on the same point, the NTA board meeting has revoked the permit.
“There was no other third option. The license had to be revoked after the company failed to pay the installment amount even after the government provided the facility, “the source told Technologies News.
NTA had earlier asked the Nepal Satellite Telecom Company Pvt. Ltd. to submit a 15-day explanation through a board meeting held on Kartik 5.
During that period, the company claimed that it could not take action and even revoke the permit by submitting an explanation.
However, the NTA has revoked the company’s license, saying that the response to the same explanation was not satisfactory.
Earlier, the cabinet meeting of the then KP Oli government had allowed the company to pay the remaining arrears in installments on Poush 21, 2076.
The first installment will be paid in five installments within the fiscal year 2076/77 and out of the remaining four installments. If the amount due at the rate of one installment per year is not paid by mid-July of each fiscal year, action will be taken including revoking the license as per the prevailing law,” said the decision of the Council of Ministers.
It had been dismissed earlier as well.
Before the government saved the license of Nepal Satellite, NTA had revoked the license for the first time on Shrawan 17, 2076, based on the decision of the Finance Committee of the Federal Parliament and the Development and Technology Committee to reject the companies that have not paid their dues to the government for a long time.
Even then, the company had gone to the Supreme Court against the authority’s order, but the court upheld the authority’s decision.
A joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Manoj Kumar Sharma had ruled that an interim order should not be issued while hearing two cases registered by Nepal Satellite Telecom on Shrawan 13 and 29.
The Telecommunications Act 2053 provides 35 days for a company to lodge an appeal with the government against the decision of the Telecommunications Authority to revoke the license. However, the company did not follow the procedure and filed a writ petition directly seeking an interim order from the apex court. The Supreme Court had also asked Nepal Satellite Telecom to follow the same procedure.
At that time, it was seen that the remaining amount of Rs. Eight hundred million had to be paid.
The company is in arrears due to non-payment of arrears within the Ashad end of last year.
The company had to pay around Rs. Three hundred fifty million by Ashad end 2078 as per the decision of the government. However, the NTA had asked for an explanation saying that no evidence was seen in the NTA.
Earlier, NTA had paid the first installment of Rs. Three hundred ninety million by Ashad end 2077 BS.
“Nepal Satellite has already paid around Rs. 390 million for the first installment in Ashad 2077 BS but has not paid the remaining amount due by Ashad end 2078 BS for the second installment,” NTA said.
What happens now?
As soon as the license is revoked, the company has to pay the remaining amount to the government within the next three months. For this, NTA will send a letter to Nepal Satellite in due course.
If it is not paid on time, the government will sell the company’s assets like the rest. For this, the government can withhold the assets and funds of the company.
Another is that the company can appeal to the government again. In case of dissatisfaction with the decision of NTA, the company may submit a tender to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology by the provisions of the Telecommunications Act.
Based on the application, the government can reverse the decision of the authority and re-issue the permit.
However, it may be difficult for the government to issue a license to the company for the second time after the license was revoked for the first time without paying the remaining dues.
About the company
Remember that the company had started the service under the name Hello Nepal. But at present, the service is not available even though the company has a license. The company does not even have customers at present.
Nepal Satellite Telecom is a company invested by Arun Sumargi. Hello, Nepal has a 75 percent stake in Airbel Service Limited Cyprus, 15 percent in Muktisri Telecom Pvt., 5 percent in Samjhana Aryal, 3 percent in Pakistan Mobile Communications and 2 percent in Sheba Telecom Pvt. Ltd., Bangladesh.
How much is left to pay?
A senior official of NTA said that Nepal Satellite Telecom has to pay around Rs 3 billion to the government. According to him, the company had paid Rs. The NTA has mentioned that the remaining arrears and additional fees will be added to the amount.
Similarly, the company has to pay a total of Rs 3 billion on average. Before this, the company had to pay Rs. 64 crore 95 lakhs 48 thousand 500 hundred as of Ashad end 2077.
However, under the additional fee, a total of Rs 42 crore 61 lakhs 29 thousand 458 Rs was to be paid to the government by paying Rs 426.121 million.
The remaining arrears include the 900 and 1800 MHz frequency visits and microwave fees charged by the company. The company seems to have been paying the remaining amount to the government since 2072/73.
