When Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada was going to present the annual budget for the fiscal year 2075-76, everyone was excited. However, the excitement went in vain when he read more of the documents he carried. The displeasure was more pronounced in the Nepali tech industry. Smartphones’ price in Nepal got increased almost in no time due to the cancellation of VAT return convenience. Now another post-budget consequence that lies right ahead of us is the hike in the mobile and internet tariffs.[caption id="attachment_56124" align="aligncenter" width="583"]
Ncell's say on internet price hike in Nepal[/caption]As announced by the Minister of Finance, ISPs and telecoms now have to pay 13% Telecom Service Cost (TSC) to the government. So the telecoms and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will surely be going to hike their tariffs. As mentioned on the announcement, TSC will be levied to the Telecoms and ISPs from the Shrawan 1 of 2018 (July 17, 2018) or the from the first day of the new fiscal year.Executives from the Telecoms and ISPs in agony say that it was announced in the budget without any prior notice or information. Even after the announcement, they even tried to woo the concerned authorities to take back the step. However, the ministry officials remain reluctant for any change in the decision. So the every attempted from the Telecom and ISPs' officials turned futile. Now the users are on the verge of paying an extra high phone and internet bills in a regular fashion.[caption id="attachment_56125" align="aligncenter" width="960"]
Worldlink's say on internet price hike in Nepal[/caption]According to the current statistics from the Nepal Telecom Authority (NTA), the telephone and mobile phone users in Nepal are more than 38.5 million. Also, the broadband internet users have surged at an unprecedented rate and crossed over 14.35 million. And now, all these populations is going to get affected with this price hike.
How much will be the increment?
Here is the general insight of the price hike on the internet and mobile tariffs.| Service | Till July 16 | From July 17 | TSC Increment | Remarks |
| Voice Call (NTC, Ncell, Landline) | Rs. 1000 | Rs. 1,020 | 13% (2% Increment) | |
| Internet – Cellular, data, fiber, ADSL, Wireless | Rs. 1,000 | Rs. 1,130 | 13% (2% Increment) | |
| 1 minute Mobile call (NTC GSM Prepaid) | Rs. 1.70 | Rs. 1.73 | + Rs. 0.03 | GSM Mobile Call Charge GSM Post-Paid Re. 1.00 per minute |
| 1 minute Mobile call (NTC GSM Postpaid) | Rs. 1.26 | Rs. 1.28 | Rs. 0.02 | GSM Mobile Call Charge GSM Post-Paid Re. 1.50 per minute |
| 1 minute Mobile call (NTC Ncell) | Rs. 2.50 | Rs. 2.55 | Rs. 0.05 | Sajilo Raiff Rate (Per minute) (inclusive of taxes) Rs. 2.50 |
| 1MB Cellular Data NTC (Without Package) | Rs. 1.13 | Rs. 1.28 | Rs. 0.15 | DATA Charges Rs. 1/MB will be charged on GPRS/3G/4G usage (Normal Data without any package) |
| 1MB Cellular Data Ncell (Without Package) | Rs. 3.39 | Rs. 3.83 | Rs. 0.44 | All Prepaid tariff, Internet surfing rate without subscribing any package |
| NTC ADSL (monthly unlimited) | Rs. 700 | Rs. 791 | Rs. 91 | 1 Month 5 Mbps Unlimited NT ADSL subscription |
| WorldLink Fiber L 20 Mbps | Rs. 13,560 | Rs. 15,323 | Rs. 1,763 | 20Mbps Unlimited Price |
To say something about myself, I have been writing tech and gadgets from 2021. Although coming from a non technical studies background, I'm someone who is always fascinated by the latest gadget and tech innovations, circling around. Besides writing, you'll find me listening music and aligning the stars through astrology and sometimes even, tarot cards! 😉🧿
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