July 27, 2019, Kathmandu
Internet service providers are not going to raise the price of internet services after the government decided to give concessions. The meeting of the Council of Ministers concluded to give out various grants on the Internet services being provided, which means that a hike in the price of the internet is not happening.
Since the ministry has decided to amend the Telecommunication law to provide leverage to ISPs on maintenance costs and aid them in infrastructural development, the president of Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPN), Bhoj Raj Bhatta informed that internet prices aren’t increasing. He said that the law formation that was stuck for over a year has now come to an amendment and hence internet prices won’t be hiked.
Bhatta informed that the service price wouldn’t increase since the government has amended the rules that state the government will cover the 50 percent of telecommunication service charges(TSC) and the ISPs will pay the remaining 50 percent. Previously, 13% of TSC was induced by the government that leads ISPs to increase the price from Shrawan 1.
“The rules that have been stalled since last year have been revised, and the price of the Internet is no longer rising,” said Bhatt.
The service providers were prepared to add 50 percent tax to the consumer’s bill after the government brought the rules for imposing telecommunication service charges on internet services from the last financial year. The government has decided to waive telecommunication service charges on routers, internet equipment, intranet lease line, installment and maintenance costs for internet connectivity.
Internet service providers charge consumers more than Rs — 500 per month for maintenance services. Similarly, the routers and lease fees that were initially introduced have been charged in addition to the revenue.
