Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has temporarily backtracked from full implementation of Mobile Devices Management System (MDMS) on the request of Prime Minister.
Issuing a notice today, the telecom sector regulator confirmed that the implementation of MDMS has been stopped until further notice, per the direction of higher authorities. "We will make an appropriate decision after assessing the situation."
But a '#NoRemittance' movement of the Nepali migrants on social media has forced the government to backtrack from its decision as remittance is the key source of Nepal's foreign currency earnings. Even a slowdown in remittance inflow will create extra pressure on external sector as Nepal has witnessed in the last fiscal year.
Though remittance doesnot come under gross domestic product (GDP), it is the key gross national income (GNI), which equals to almost 29 per cent of GDP. According to the World Bank, Nepal has, since 2005, earned significantly more foreign exchange from international migration than from goods and services exports, including tourism, and foreign direct investment combined.
Nepal is currently ranked 11th among the top remittance recipient countries in proportion to its GDP, 'Migration and Brief-2022' of World Bank reads, projecting Nepal's remittance receipts to constitute 21.8 per cent equavalent to its GDP. "Nepal has a GDP of Rs Rs 4,851 billion, and the country ranked 10th last year."
Nepali diaspora has started a campaign 'No Mobile, No Remittance,' forcing the Prime Minister to interfere in the decision to implement MDMS from today by the NTA, knowledgable sources said.
The secretariate of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', also confirmed that the premier directed finance minister Bishnu Poudel yesterday evening to postpone the implementation of the decision to impose customs duty on more than one mobile set imported from abroad at the individual level.
The Department of Customs (DoC) was scheduled to implement the provision from today. It was planning to levy an 18 per cent duty on second mobile phone brought into the country by individuals from foreign countries. Under the new provision, individuals will be allowed to bring one phone into the country without paying any customs duty but 18 per cent duty will have to be paid for the second phone, and third one will be confiscated by customs officials.
Currently, Nepalis returning from abroad are allowed to bring up to two mobile phones into the country without paying any duty.
The decision to bar a Nepali citizen from bringing more than one mobile set from abroad after the move drew flak on social media.
The NTA is planning to issuing another notice tomorrow requesting the mobile phone users, who brought their devices from abroad for personal use before mid-August this year should now update their operating system by taking an invoice from the customs office.
The NTA has planned to implement the MDMS, a security application that allows the regulator to set policies that safeguard, monitor, and govern end-user mobile devices, since long.
It has dome a soft launch of the MDMS on September 15. The system is expected to help reduce the gray market for smartphones, which not only bleed the government revenue but also hit authorised importers.
The new regulation would require each new phone brought into the country to be registered for availing of phone services provided by the Nepali telecom operators.
MDMS also enables the regulatory body to disable the unregistered device, preventing it from connecting to the cell towers. Before adding the device to the MDMS database, one must pay the applicable customs duty and obtain a Customs Declaration Form from the customs office.
Using the NTA link to register the devices with MDMS is still recommended in the interim. Users can check whether a mobile phone is registered with the MDMS at the time of purchase within the country.
According to the NTA, around 1.5 million mobile phones were brought in by traders and registered with the authority in five months till November. "Around 11,000 personal cell phones have been signed up by the November," the NTA informed, adding that the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) records show that 3 million mobile phones have been registered over the period. "The IMEI is a unique 15-digit code, which tells exactly what kind of device you have when you put in the SIM card."
The NTA started developing the MDMS four years ago after the Mobile Device Management System Bylaws 2018 were issued.
Smartphones are mainly imported from China and India. The system was introduced to discourage illegal imports, sale and distribution of mobile sets and to track and block mobile phones in cases of theft and loss.
But both the telecom regulator and government could not convince the Nepali migrants, and take them into confidence before implementing the MDMS.
Issuing a press note Pravasi Nepali Manch, an organisation of migrant Nepali workers, said that the government is well aware that the country's economy is sustained by remittances sent home by millions of Nepali migrants. "The decision to levy customs duty on a mobile phone and a laptop brought in by returning Nepali migrant workers is an exploitation of those folks," it reads.
The NTA has issuing a notice on December 24, requested the mobile phone users, who brought their handheld devices from abroad for personal use before mid-August this year should update their operating system by taking an invoice from the customs office.
The notice read, “The sets not declared in customs, according to the rules, will not be registered from December 30. And this type of mobile set will stop operating."
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