Ncell has not reduced the internet data tariff as directed by the regulator NTA. Earlier, NTA had directed Ncell to reduce the internet price from Shrawan 1, 2076. They have asked to cut down the cost of internet data per MB by Rs 1.
NTA with the decision from its board, come up with the directives to Ncell for an internet price reduction. The current tariff of Ncell’s data (pay per usage) without any package, is Rs 3 per MB. They asked Ncell to make it Rs 2 per MB.
As per NTA spokesperson Min Prasad Aryal, “Ncell proposed to reduce a little after NTA’s directive”. He further says “We have directed Ncell for the price reduction as per the board decision”.
As per NTA sources, Kantipur writes Ncell has proposed to reduce the internet price by 25 paise only.
Reason for the directives
As the price of internet bandwidth in the international market has gone down and Ncell’s price found to be higher than other operators, the price reduction directives came.
The customers have also complained a lot regarding the higher internet price of Ncell. So, NTA has come up with this directive as per customers complaint.
New directives
Newly appointed NTA chairman Mr. Purushottam Khanal says NTA has also planned to come up with new directives for the telco tariffs.
He mentions that “the new tariff directive will apply within a month”. Through which, they will analyze all the tariffs of telecom services and have provision to reduce the price.
Currently, there is no any exact regulation for the tariff of telecom services. With the new directives, telecom operators will be asked to charge the customers as per their expenses. The new regulations will not allow making a profit of more than 25 percent in each telecom services.
Mobile data tariff (without data packages)
The internet data tariff or internet price of Nepal Telecom (without any data packages) is Rs 1 per MB. Whereas Ncell has the pay per go internet tariff of Rs 3 per MB. Similarly, Smart Telecom has the data tariff of Rs 2 per MB. Find the more details of telecom tariffs.
The telecom operators can only implement the telecom tariffs after the approval by NTA. On Magh 2071, the data tariff of both Ntc and Ncell were approved by NTA at the same time. Then, the price of Ncell’s data tariff was three times than that of Ntc. From then on, the price of Ncell’s internet data (pay per MB) remains the same Rs 3 per MB.
For the people who do not buy data packages, the cost of data per MB is higher. So, they had complained of such higher internet tariff.
Profit of telcos
Ncell is the highest profit-making telecom operator in the country. As per Ncell parent company Axiata’s financial report, Ncell could make Rs 15.3 billion profit in the year 2018, from the total revenue of Rs 57.5 billion. The profit portage of Ncell compared to its expenses is more than 26%.
As per the (OAG) office of Auditor General‘s report, the operating profit of Ntc and Ncell is highest in the world. They indirectly point the expensive telecom services from those telecom operators.
Tell us what do you think of the NTA’s initiatives for the internet data price reduction?
