The government has decided to allow Ncell, the private sector telecom giant, to pay its license renewal fee on an installment basis.

A Cabinet meeting on Thursday decided to allow the company to pay the renewal fee in four installments. As per the arrangement, the company can pay Rs5 billion a year, according to Minister for Information and Communication Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung, who is also spokesperson of the government. The telecom company’s license is expiring on Sunday.

“The company has to pay 10 percent interest rate for three installments while it doesn’t apply in the case of the first tranche,” Gurung said. “The government will give necessary instruction to the Nepal Telecommunication Authority to implement this decision.”

The government had given similar installment facilities for license renewal in the past as well. But, it hadn’t sought interest for the second and third tranches.

However, the Office of the Attorney General in its report had advised the government to discontinue this practice saying that it is against the law and causes huge loss to the state coffers.

Three months ago, the Ncell had written to the Nepal Telecommunication Authority for an installment option to pay the renewal fee. But the regulatory body had informed the company that the laws of the land don’t allow them to do so. The authority had also informed the ministry about the correspondence from the Ncell.