KATHMANDU, July 15: The government of Nepal has declared that all foreign TV channels will no longer be available for paid broadcasts starting from July 17. 

The Department of Information and Broadcasting released a statement explaining that the government has not received the required channel packages, known as "bouquet," for the implementation of the 'À la carte' price system, leading to this decision.

Following the refusal of Indian paid TV channel broadcasters to support the À la carte system in Nepal, the department has appealed to all stakeholders to firmly back the government's resolution. The Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation, an umbrella organization representing Indian channels, has communicated to the Department of Information and Broadcasting, expressing its disagreement with the creation of channel packages and separate pricing for each channel. In response, the government has decided to cease the broadcast of foreign channels.

Sudip Bhattarai, the spokesperson of the Department, in a statement said that the implementation of the À la carte system faced obstacles due to channels failing to pay the required bills and fees. Although the government has stipulated that foreign channels purchased from abroad must be in packages and each channel's price within the bouquet must be paid separately, no party has been willing to comply.

Sony, Zee, Discovery, Star, Colors, HBO, and other foreign channel providers have not submitted their packages, their prices, or the individual channel costs within the packages. These channels have designated representatives in Nepal who sell their packages to local television service distributors.

Given the reluctance of service providers to meet the demand for channel packages and pricing, the government has made the decision to discontinue all paid foreign channels. The department has already sent written notices to all foreign signal distributors and operators responsible for bringing packages of foreign channels, instructing them to cease broadcasting from July 17.

The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology had previously decided to implement the À la carte price system for television (TV) services on March 29, 2023. This system, in accordance with the National Broadcasting Regulations of 2052 BS, aims to bring transparency, organization, and scientific methodology to the fees charged by licensed organizations distributing television channel signals in Nepal, including cable, MAO, DTH, IPTV, MMDS, and DTTB.

According to the system,  only Rs 250 including taxes can be charged for the minimum (basic package) fee. In this package, the broadcasting organization will have to show Nepali and foreign 'free to air' channels that can be watched for free. Such channels should include informational, news, educational, entertaining, sports and other content.

Similarly, the channel operators will be allowed to charge the consumers separately or on a bouquet basis only for broadcasting the free channels. The government has fixed the maximum price of each bouquet channel at Rs 40 including tax. The government has banned taking more than Rs 40. Here, Bouquet channels can also be understood as channels that are provided by the same group in a bundle.

Likewise, the maximum monthly payment of Rs 500 for television broadcasting and payment for internet services should not be more than the current combined fee. However, as the paid channels fall outside the purview of the regulations, the government has announced that the transmission of channels with downlink permission, which are purchased through payment, has been halted.

 
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