Nepal Telecommunications Authority formally revokes CG Communications’ license

KATHMANDU: The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has officially revoked the license of CG Communications Limited, owned by Binod Chaudhary. The license, which was previously held by STM Telecom Pvt. Ltd. under the license number RTS EDR 01, was canceled due to the failure to submit a renewal application within the specified timeframe.

CG Communications had applied for the renewal of the rural telecommunications service license, originally obtained on November 21, 2003, this past January. However, the NTA stated that the license was automatically canceled on December 1 of the previous year, as the renewal application and fee were not submitted within the designated period as mandated by Rule 12 of the Telecommunications Regulations 2054.

In a public notice released today, the NTA informed CG Communications, located in Sanepa, about the cancellation. Chaudhary had previously sought to renew the rural telecommunications service license after the expiration of the initial grant period.

According to Rule 12, Sub-rule 2 of the Telecommunications Regulations 2054, CG Communications was required to submit the renewal application along with the fee three months in advance. However, the company submitted the application only on January 8, nearly a month after the expiration period. By December 16, the NTA had already informally notified that the license was automatically canceled.

It is reported that the company did not renew the license to avoid presenting the account for $11.865 million in loan assistance obtained from the World Bank. Following the cancellation, CG Communications appealed to the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Rekha Sharma, claiming that the automatic cancellation was due to a misunderstanding.

However, there is no provision for appeal in cases of automatic cancellation. The legal provision allows for an appeal only if the license renewal application is submitted three months in advance along with the fee and the renewal is still denied.

Meanwhile, Chaudhary and his associates reportedly exerted pressure on the Prime Minister and attempted to influence the Minister and the Secretary to recover the license, but their efforts were unsuccessful.