NCELL on Monday cleared the second instalment of the licence renewal fee amid confusion over the payment schedule. The mobile operator paid Rs 2.5 billion on the last day of the fiscal year as per the demand of regulator Nepal Telecom Authority (NTA). Although the NTA had also demanded license renewal fees from Nepal Telecom (NT) and royalty from United Telecom Limited (UTL), they told the regulator that they have already cleared the dues for this year. Five days ago, the NTA had sought the payment from the operators for the second time this fiscal year. Ncell had cleared the first instalment of Rs 2.5 billion a few months ago. “The NTA asked for the fee twice this year. We have now paid a total of Rs 5 billion in licence renewal charge,” Sanju Koirala, Ncell’s corporate communication director, adding that the fee, however, is payable only once a year. However, an NTA official said the regulator demanded the payment from the operators as per the governmental decision. “The government has decided to get the first instalment at the beginning of the fiscal year and the remaining amount by the end,” said NTA Director Anandraj Khanal. “As NT and UTL have responded saying that they have cleared all the dues, we will notify this matter to the government.” NT Spokesperson Gunakeshari Pradhan said the company has already cleared the first instalment and the second one is payable only at the end of the next fiscal year. As per the condition, UTL and Nepal Telecom have to pay Rs 20.13 billion each in licence renewal fees. The payment can be divided into eight instalments as per the Cabinet’s decision. The confusion is due to the absence of a decision maker at NTA. As the NTA Board still lacks a chairman, board meetings have not taken place for a long.
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