Kathmandu. In the first part of Ncell’s ‘Loot’ series, we presented the facts about how Ncell proceeded with a plan to evade tax by showing that it had sold billions of rupees to a company worth only Rs 6.5 billion with the clear intention of evading tax to the state. The report of the government probe committee pointed out that the company, which had been spreading the news of paying more than Rs 12 billion in revenue annually, had hidden the real business and caused a loss of billions of rupees in tax to the state.
Today, we present ‘Operation Ncell’ as part of Ncell’s Loot – Part 2, where the company has been disobeying regulatory directions, misinterpreting the law and imposing various financial burdens on consumers for years.
Business on the basis of lies, profit on the basis of mischief
The report of the probe committee formed by the then government has put Ncell’s working style under serious question. According to the report, the company has repeatedly disobeyed the directives of the regulatory body, misinterpreted the law and extorted money from the consumers and has also taken the decision of the Telecommunication Authority lightly. The committee has pointed out a particularly serious issue – when companies that raise millions of rupees illegally are exempted by imposing a fine of a few thousand or a few lakhs, it is natural for the misconduct to be repeated.
Service without permission, flouting the law through ‘Recharge & Win’ offer
Ncell was found to be operating the service through SIP Connectivity without obtaining the required license. Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) had imposed a fine of Rs 500,000 on the company and directed it to shut down the service. However, the company has already earned millions of rupees from the operation of this service, so the fine of Rs 5 lakh seems to be limited to only formal action. After this, the company operated the ‘Recharge and Win’ scheme against the law. Although the NEA had directed to shut down the service immediately, no further action was taken. As a result, the company received a message that it could challenge the regulatory body and launched another series of bullying.
data fee, fine only 50,000
Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on Ncell following a complaint of irregularities in data tariff. It also warned them to comply with regulatory directives.
However, the fines are very small compared to the amount collected from the consumers, so it does not seem to affect the company. Similarly, Ncell was fined Rs 5 lakh for operating Value Added Service (VAS) like Love Detector and Magic Voice without the required approval. Although the company made a significant income from the operation of such services, the fines were limited to negligible. Not only this, Ncell had to pay a fine of Rs 5 lakh again as per the Telecommunications Act after it was found violating the conditions mentioned in its license. But such a fine did not deter the company from making millions of profits.
The financial burden on consumers through auto renewal
It was also revealed that the company had charged a large amount of money by making arrangements for auto renewal in the VAS service without the explicit consent of the consumer.
The authority had instructed to shut down such services and make arrangements to renew the service only after prior approval of the customer. However, the company was fined Rs 50,000 for not complying with the directive.
The court had also ordered Ncell to return the amount to the consumers within three months, finding that Ncell had taken Rs 1,11,26,754.84 illegally.
But the punishment for extorting crores of rupees was still limited to a fine of Rs 50,000. These are just a few of the details made public by the government investigation committee. Since then, Ncell has been taking action from the regulator at various times. The company has been criticized for repeating another mistake after taking action. Despite the regulatory body taking action, it has been accused that the company did not feel the necessary pressure to improve its behavior due to its effective implementation and lack of adequate punishment.
Citizen’s question to the Balen-led government
Ncell, which was repeatedly dragged into controversy in the past in the name of power, access, and political patronage, is now being questioned whether strict monitoring and effective action is possible or not.
Can the present government formed with the direct vote of the people end the anomalies in the telecommunication sector or not? Can a company that has not improved even after repeated action be brought under the purview of law? This is the answer that citizens are looking for right now.
https://arthakhabar. com/2026/06/18/74079/
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