Ram Kumari Rimal, a 63-year-old farmer from Dhading, still has Rs102 balance on her mobile phone, but she has been unable to make or receive calls.

Her daughter in Chitwan transferred Rs200 to her phone two or three months ago, and the remaining balance is now unusable, she said.

The problem stems from the expiry of the recharge validity period. Once validity expires, the phone enters a grace period where outgoing services are barred first. After a certain period, both incoming and outgoing services are restricted before the SIM card is eventually deactivated.

When someone calls her number, they hear a message saying incoming calls have been restricted.

“There is balance in the phone, but the validity has expired. Calls neither come in nor go out,” Ram Kumari said. “Even with balance in the account, it says calls are barred. I cannot use my own property.”

The issue is not limited to Ram Kumari. Many low-income users, elderly people and residents of rural Nepal face similar difficulties.

Telecom operators in Nepal have increasingly adopted subscription-based services or mandatory minimum recharge requirements. For many people, however, even a monthly recharge of Rs50 or Rs100 has become a financial burden, limiting their access to telecommunications services.

“I recharge Rs100 or Rs150 a month. But when there is no work, I may not need to call anyone for 10 to 15 days,” said Manoj Singh Nepali, a porter working in Mahabouddha, Kathmandu. “Sometimes the phone stops working because the validity expires even though balance remains. But it starts working again once I recharge Rs50.”

According to the latest data from the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, Nepal has around 2.744 million 2G network users. Bar phones account for nearly 23 percent of total mobile phone imports. Data also show that around 9.4 percent of the population use mobile phones only for voice calls and SMS.

Despite this, telecom companies have not introduced special packages or concessions for users who either cannot afford smartphones or prefer basic phones.

In neighbouring India, however, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India introduced a directive last year aimed at ensuring that around 150 million low-income 2G users are not excluded from telecommunications services.

Under the system, operators must provide 90 days of validity for a recharge of 20 Indian rupees, while special tariff vouchers offering validity of up to 365 days are available for as little as 10 Indian rupees. The policy has allowed low-income workers and elderly users to keep SIM cards active and continue receiving banking alerts and emergency calls without large recharge amounts.

In Nepal, SIM cards are no longer just communication tools. Mobile numbers are now linked to bank accounts, land records, the Nagarik App and various government documents.

Some users argue that when telecom companies deactivate SIM cards despite remaining balance, they are effectively depriving people of access to essential services and identity-linked systems.

Indian lawmaker Raghav Chadha recently raised the issue in Parliament, arguing that SIM cards should be treated as lifelong identities and that incoming calls should not be disconnected merely because users fail to recharge.

Nepal’s telecommunications regulator, however, has no clear directive requiring operators to extend validity periods for low-income consumers.

Surya Prasad Lamichhane, deputy director at the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, said operators independently determine validity periods based on international practice and market competition.

“There have been discussions about using funds such as the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund to provide concessions for low-income users, but nothing has been implemented yet,” he said.

Telecom companies argue that subscription models and fixed validity periods are necessary because revenues are declining while network operating costs remain high.

According to a source at Ncell, operators must collect minimum fees from users to sustain operations and invest in new technology.

“Telecom companies need to spend between Rs6 billion and Rs8 billion annually in capital expenditure to keep networks operating round the clock,” the source said. “Whether customers make calls or not, network operating costs remain the same. Companies need fixed charges from customers to remain sustainable.”

Rabindra Manandhar, spokesperson for Nepal Telecom, said users must recharge once the validity period expires, even if balance remains in the account.

“Validity periods are determined through scientific calculations based on company investment, operational costs and revenue,” he said.

For Nepal Telecom users, SIM cards typically shift immediately into one-way mode once validity expires, allowing incoming calls and SMS but blocking outgoing services. This condition remains for 30 days, after which both incoming and outgoing services are barred completely.

At Ncell, outgoing calls are blocked for up to 14 days after the main balance validity expires. If users still do not recharge, both incoming and outgoing services are suspended.

“Prepaid users need to recharge their SIM cards to extend the validity of the main balance,” Ncell says on its website. “Different recharge amounts are provided with different validity periods.”

At Nepal Telecom, a recharge of Rs20 provides a minimum validity of seven days, while a recharge of Rs1,000 offers validity of up to 690 days. At Ncell, a Rs50 recharge provides seven days of validity, while Rs1,000 recharge offers up to 730 days.

Telecommunications expert Bhesh Raj Kandel said the practice of restricting services after validity expires, despite the remaining balance, is an accepted international model and a common industry practice.

However, he said the government and service providers should introduce special concessions for low-income groups to protect communication rights.

“In countries like the US, there are rules preventing operators from disconnecting phones used by elderly or disabled people,” he said. “These groups are allowed a fixed number of free calls each month, but if they exceed the limit, they are charged double. This system both protects vulnerable users and prevents misuse.”

Service providers in Nepal argue that identifying low-income users and designing targeted packages would be difficult.

“The government itself has not been able to identify poor citizens properly, so how can operators do it?” a telecom representative said. “Designing separate validity rules for different categories of users would be extremely costly for us.”

Kandel, however, suggested that users making fewer than 30 calls per month throughout the year could be categorised as low-income users and offered longer validity periods or special concessions.

“If someone consistently makes fewer than 30 calls a month, they could be eligible for concessions,” he said. “Telecom companies are commercial entities and will not provide such benefits on their own. The government needs to introduce clear policies and criteria to identify low-income users.”

Telecom operators had previously adopted 28-day recharge packages, effectively requiring customers to purchase packages 13 times a year.

Following the formation of the incumbent government, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology directed operators through a 10-point reform plan to make package durations a mandatory 30 days. Operators later revised their systems accordingly.

Even so, experts say imposing fixed subscription-based recharge requirements on all users in the name of declining business is unjustified and risks excluding low-income people from basic communication services.

According to the National Statistics Office, around 20.27 percent of Nepal’s population lives below the poverty line.

The office’s “Small Area Estimation of Poverty, 2023” report showed that 18.34 percent of the urban population and 24.66 percent of the rural population live below the poverty line.

The government classifies individuals unable to spend Rs72,908 annually per person as living below the poverty line.