Kathmandu, February 8

The Nepal Mobile Distributors Association (NMDA) has urged the government and authorities concerned to implement the Mobile Device Management System (MDMS) at the earliest alongside facilitating some discounts in duty and free registration of their mobile devices in the MDMS for Nepalis living in foreign countries to minimise the rampant smuggling of mobile devices among other related criminal activities.

Organising a press conference here today, Dinesh Chulyadyo, president of NMDA, shared that the country is losing about two to three billion rupees in revenue annually due to the increasing trend of smuggled devices being sold in the market through various means.

'The consumers are ultimately the ones getting cheated. Also, various types of criminal activities are being carried out through unregistered mobile devices in the country, which is also affecting the business of tax-paying mobile distributors. The system is not connected with the duties levied in the import of mobile devices by Nepali returnees in any way and must be implemented to stop such ongoing activities in the market,' he said.

Although the plan was to implement the MDMS from December 30 of last year, it was postponed under the directive of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal after widespread criticism from Nepali migrant workers.

Stating that the MDMS is not a part of the customs duty being levied on the entry of mobile devices brought by Nepalis returning from foreign countries, the association clarified that the MDMS is a system that assists authorities in keeping track of the devices entering the country through official means as well as in regulating them.

Also, the rumours of mobile devices owned or sent by migrant Nepali workers not working in the country following the system's implementation are false and that the system is not linked with the customs department and the taxes being levied on entry of mobile devices, according to the NMDA.

Achyuta Nanda Mishra, deputy director of Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), also said that the authority had to postpone the implementation of the MDMS after receiving the directive from PM Dahal and added that the project will move ahead after receiving some clear guidelines and instructions related to the matter.

He also shared that the problem is not with people bringing mobile devices for personal use but for other reasons.

'As many as 1.5 million mobile devices have entered the country through official means, while 3.1 million devices have entered from the grey market in the past three months, as per our study. Similarly, 42,000 devices have entered through personal channels. This shows that the mobile phones entering the market through personal channels cover just 1.5 per cent share of the total mobile phones entering the country and do not pose any issue. The only work left is to introduce a proper management system and we are currently focused on doing just that. The NTA is ready to implement the system as soon as the ongoing works to make it further effective and managed is completed,' Mishra said.

The NMDA has also claimed that mobile phones worth Rs 40 billion imported through official channels are imported and traded in the country annually, while mobiles worth Rs 14 billion are smuggled without paying any customs and are being traded at the market, resulting in revenue loss of two billion rupees for the government.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 9, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.