KATHMANDU, Jan 11: Nepal Telecom Authority (NTA) has sent a letter to United Telecom Limited (UTL) -- a private mobile operator -- on Monday, warning it of scrapping operating license for not paying the royalty as per the commitment.
UTL had committed NTA -- the telecom regulator -- to pay royalty ranging from Rs 20 million in the year of establishment to around Rs 370 million in 2012/2013 on an annual basis.
NTA source told Republica that UTL was paying just four percent of its revenue and that the amount was not sufficient to clear the royalty as per the requirement.
NTA official said UTL has not paid royalty amount since 2006. As per the commitment, UTL was supposed to make a total payment of over one billion rupees.
“After deducting royalty received in the form of four percent of its revenue, the company still has to pay around Rs 900 million to the government to clear its royalty liability,” the official said.
In its letter, the telecom regulator has informed the UTL management of initiating legal procedures to scrap operating license and slap a fine of Rs 500,000 within a week.
The scrapping of license and the penalty of Rs 500,000 is as per Nepal Telecom Regulation Act 1997, according to the letter.
UTL was established in 2002 and during direct rule of king Gyanendra and the royalty worth Rs 190 million for 2006 was written off.
When contacted, UTL General Manager Madan Singh said he was not aware of the letter, as he was out of the office. Instead, he said the government’s decision to halt UTL’s operation during the king’s rule for six months badly affected its goodwill and the company was still suffering because of that.
“We have sued the government for defamation and have asked for compensation,” he said and argued that the royalty claimed by the government was nothing in front of what it has to pay as compensation amount.
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=27012
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