Telecom charges to go up

KATHMANDU, July 14: : People using telecommunications services will have to pay 1.15 percent more charge from July 17.

The government has increased telecommunication service charge to 11 percent from the existing 10 percent through the budget for Fiscal Year 2015/16. This means the existing tax of 26.79 percent will be increased to 27.94 percent from Friday. At present customers have been paying 10 percent service charge, 2 percent ownership tax and 13 percent VAT.

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"The added service charge will make telecommunications service expensive for customers as the service provider will not have to bear the increased charge," Digambar Jha, chairman of Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), said.

Likewise, the government will use Rural Telecommunication Development Fund (RTDF) to lay down optical fiber along Mid-Hills Highway to develop Kathmandu, Lumbini and Nijgadh as smart cities. RTDF will also be used to provide broadband Internet services in quake-hit districts.

RTDF currently has around Rs 10 billion which has not been used since long.