ISPs warn shutting down internet service, MoCIT seeks assurance for payment

 Kathmandu, Apr. 30

Internet service providers (ISPs) have warned that the internet facility could be shut down across the country from next week.

The Internet Service Providers' Association of Nepal (ISPAN) said on Saturday that since the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MoCIT) ceased to recommend for the foreign currency needed to pay to the upstream providers companies like Tata, Airtel and Siffy, Nepali companies couldn't pay for the service. Upstream providers are large ISPs that sell internet service to small local ISPs.

"As a result, companies have not been able to pay for the past six months and the internet will be shut down across the country from next week," ISPAN said in a statement.

According to it, at present, the MoCIT seems to have deliberately blocked the recommendation of foreign currency to block essential internet services. This problem had begun about four years ago when the Auditor General mentioned the royalty discount as arrears and suggested the ministry to raise the money. But the Public Accounts Committee of the Federal Parliament had directed the government to exclude the discount from arrears since the Telecommunication Bylaws 1997 exempts the support charge, annual maintenance, technical charge and monitoring charge from royalties.

"Ignoring the decision, the ministry has been forcing to shut down private sector internet services by withholding foreign currency recommendations on a number of pretexts," President of ISPAN Sudhir Parajuli said.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court, last year, had issued an interim order to the Nepal Telecommunication Authority not to collect arrears from World Link Communications Limited when the former send a letter to the company asking to submit the dues.

Likewise, the ISPAN said that the television service providers are also on the verge of shutting down due to the same problem. According to it, emergency services are not restricted to foreign exchange recommendations.

It also raised the issue of high tax on internet service which is above 45 per cent at present.

"There is a bitter truth that Nepal is one of the countries that imposes heavy taxes on the internet. Due to the fact that the taxes levied on the Internet have not been reduced, the development of the internet, telecommunications sector and the perception of digital Nepal as a whole have been ignored," read the statement.

In a sad note, the ISPAN announced a boycott to all the activities being organised on the occasion of National ICT Day 2022 which falls on Monday, 2 May.

"We have decided not to hold any programme or activity related to this year's ICT Day. We are compelled to make a sad decision not to be the organizer, not to participate, not to be the sponsor and to stop all kinds of support to the programmes related to the day," it said.

But the MoCIT said that the information provided by the ISPAN is misleading as the royalty wave off was only for 2017/18 and the companies need to pay their liabilities incurred in the following years.

Secretary of the MoCIT, Dr. Baikuntha Aryal said that the government had no intention to trouble entrepreneurs and obstruct the service. "The ministry has asked them to clear the dues in a condition that if there were decisions against it, the money would be refunded. Likewise, we are positive to solve the present crisis if the ISPs assured to pay their dues next time," he said.

According to the ministry, the government had provided all required facilities to ISPs even though it has been under pressure to raise the arrears but the companies are deferring from their liabilities.

The ISPs have not reached the MoCIT for a dialogue in recent months.

President of CAN Federation, Nawaraj Kunwar said that the issue is critical, so the government and ISPs should sit together and address it at the earliest. "Government should provide the foreign exchange facility to the businesses. Shutting down the essential service like internet will create obstructions in every sector of business and society," he said. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 1 May 2022.