Nepal’s telecom regulator has revoked the operating licence of three telecommunications service providers after they failed to renew themselves.

The Nepal Telecommunications Authority published a notice on Wednesday saying that the licences of United Telecom, Putalisadak; Max Net Solutions, Koteshwar and Chitwan Network were revoked.

The authority said the service providers failed to deposit the renewal charges in a given time, and their licences were cancelled automatically according to the Telecommunications Act, 1997.

The authority has also ordered the companies to pay the pending amount by January 12.

The authority also warned the service providers of action if they fail to settle the dues within the given time.

According to the authority, United Telecom was issued the licence on October 22, 2003, which expired on October 22, 2023.

Max Net Solutions was issued the operating licence on November 22, 2018. It expired on November 22, 2023. Chitwan Network received the licence on November 28, 2018, which expired on November 28, 2023.

Before this, the authority cancelled the licences of Himalayan Gorkha Net, Askina Cable Network, Galkot Link, Surkhet Cable Net, Hamro Net TV, Reliant Techno Networking and Mega Cable Net five months ago.

“We took the action as per the prevailing laws,” said Santosh Paudel, director of Nepal Telecommunications Authority.

The authority, however, refused to provide details on their dues.

Under the existing regulation, if the licence of telecom service providers is cancelled automatically, all the property, infrastructure, telecommunications process and network come under the control of the authority.

According to the regulation, the service provider needs to pay the government liabilities within three months after the authority takes control of the telecommunications company.

If the service provider again fails to pay the liabilities, the government will raise it by auctioning off their property.