The government has decided to exempt customs duty on a new smartphone brought in by migrant workers while returning home.

The Cabinet meeting on Tuesday decided to amend the Baggage Rules, 2016 under which migrant workers are allowed to bring in a new mobile set, in addition to their phone, according to the Finance Minister's private secretariat.

The migrant workers have to present a legal work permit for at least six months.

Nepalis staying abroad for employment with a legal work permit for at least 12 months can return with a 32 inch TV exempt from customs duty, currently.

On December 30 last year, The nation’s telecommunications regulator—Nepal Telecommunications Authority halted the full implementation of the mobile device management system following Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's order not to implement the system immediately.

Dahal moved to instruct the Finance Minister not to implement the decision amid public criticism as the policy bars a Nepali citizen from bringing in more than two mobile phone sets from abroad.

The Finance Ministry had decided to levy an 18 percent customs duty if a returnee is found to have brought in more than one handheld device from abroad.

Following the development, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority issued a notice saying that the plan has been suspended for the time being. “We will make an appropriate decision after assessing the situation,” the authority said at the time.

Before that, on December 24, 2022, issuing a notice, the regulator had requested that mobile phone users who brought their handheld devices from abroad for personal use before mid-August 2022 should update their operating system by taking an invoice from the customs office.

The Minister of Communication, Information and Technology Rekha Sharma said that the Cabinet meeting also decided to implement the Mobile Device Management System.