Collection of sale and purchase details of Ncell stakes underway, company says

KATHMANDU, Dec 6: Ncell Axiata Limited, a private mobile service provider based in Nepal, has said it was collecting documents about the sale and purchase of its share. It has mentioned this in a letter sent to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) after the telecommunications regulatory body sought details about the sale and purchase of its stake responding to widespread questions about the Malaysian company exiting Nepal operation by selling its majority stakes. 

The NTA has received the response from the company, said the NTA Chairperson Purushottam Khanal in the meeting of the finance committee today. On December 1, 2023, the NTA wrote to Ncell seeking details of the sale and purchase of its shares and received a response from the company on December 5. 

The process of collecting related documents was underway and it would be submitted to the respective body within the existing laws of Nepal, it said. 

The NTA will launch further investigations if the sale and purchase of Ncell stakes is suspected, said Khanal in the meeting. The committee had sought a response from the NTA about arrears of over Rs 2.2 billion of the NTA. The arrears had to be recovered within three months from various nine telecommunication service providers. 

A lawmaker from the Rastriya Swatantra Party Dr. Swarnim Wagle demanded that the management of Ncell should be brought to the finance committee and inquired about the matter. "The finance committee should write to the chief executive officer of Ncell Axiata Limited and its partner in Nepal inquiring about the matter. While talking about the investment conference in Nepal, the fact that a foreign company is exiting Nepal has risked the prestige of Nepal. This has spread a negative message to foreign investors aspiring to invest in Nepal," he said. 

Other lawmakers Dipak Khadka, Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, Ganga Karki and Purna Bahadur Tamang demanded serious investigations into the matter.