Kathmandu, May 13: The door has been opened for the government to recover revenue and rural telecommunication fees from internet service providers, including World Link Communication following a verdict of the Supreme Court.
In this regard, eight different writ petitions filed in the apex court by the World Link have been dismissed by a joint bench of the court justices Hari Prasad Phuyal and Dr Nahakul Subedi.
In the annual report of the financial year 2072/073, the Auditor General has been continuously pointing out that internet service providers have yet to clear a longstanding arrear, and as a result, the government has lost a large amount in revenues.
According to the investigation conducted by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology last year, it was revealed that the World Link and other service providers evaded taxes.
A committee was also formed under the coordination of joint secretary Gaurab Giri to investigate the issue of tax evasion by internet service providers.
The committee carried out a detailed study of the royalties and rural telecommunication development fees paid by a total of eleven internet service providers during the period from the fiscal year 2069/70 to 2078/79 before submitting it.
The report mentioned that nine internet service providers, including the World Link Communication, have yet to pay an amount of Rs 2.46 billion to the Government of Nepal in revenues, and an additional amount of Rs 273.3 million is yet to be recovered.
