ENGLISH

Behind the Ncell Sale Freeze: Political Pressure, Tax Evasion Claims and a Secret Government Report

Kathmandu. Nepal’s second-largest telecommunications service provider, Ncell Pvt. Ltd., is approaching the final phase of its 25-year operational period. Under the law, upon expiry of this period, all of the company’s assets are required to automatically transfer to government ownership. However, delays in the ownership-transfer process, ongoing tax disputes, and political interference have rendered the entire procedure highly complex.The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has allocated NPR 10 million in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year to initiate a study on Ncell’s commercial operating framework. This study is regarded as the first formal step toward establishing the legal and administrative groundwork for the potential nationalization of Ncell.