KATHMANDU: The Office of the Auditor General has directed the Nepal Mountaineering Association to deposit mountaineering royalty collections into the federal divisible fund and provide timely details to the concerned ministry.
According to the 63rd annual report prepared by the Auditor General’s Office, Section 7 of the Intergovernmental Fiscal Arrangement Act, 2017 requires royalties collected from mountaineering activities to be deposited into the federal divisible fund.
The report states that revenue accumulated in the fund must then be distributed among the federal government, provincial governments and local levels.
The government had assigned the Nepal Mountaineering Association responsibility for collecting royalties from 27 mountain peaks below 6,000 meters across the country from Shrawan 10, 2075 to Shrawan 9, 2080. The responsibility was extended for another five years on Kartik 23, 2080.
According to the report, the association collected Rs 122 million and 26 thousand in royalties. However, it was found to have delayed depositing the royalties into the divisible fund and also delayed sending details to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.
Based on records received from the ministry, the report states that the association still has Rs 96.326 million in unpaid royalty dues.
The Auditor General has recommended that the pending amount be recovered and deposited on time.
The report also highlighted issues related to rural telecommunications service charges and bandwidth fees.
It stated that Rs 162.1 million collected from rural telecommunications fees and related penalties should be deposited into the fund after proper assessment.
According to the report, 13 out of 261 service providers licensed by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority are required to deposit two percent of their assessable annual income amounting to Rs 8.1095 billion for the fiscal year 2080/81 into the fund.
The report further noted that although the authority approved service fees for providers at different times, it had not clearly separated maintenance charges and internet service fees while determining tariff rates for bandwidth packages.
The Auditor General has suggested that the authority establish clear legal provisions distinguishing maintenance charges from internet fees and strengthen monitoring to ensure service providers are not selling bandwidth packages different from those officially approved.
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