KATHMANDU: Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank, has warned that it may have to direct domestic telecom companies to block the service of WeChat Pay in Nepal, as neither the Chinese payment giant nor firms authorised by it have formally applied to legalise the use of mobile payment service in Nepal.

“One company had previously expressed interest to work on behalf of WeChat Pay in Nepal. But it has not contacted us since,” said NRB Executive Director Dev Kumar Dhakal. “If this continues, we will have to direct telecom companies to block WeChat Pay’s service because we still do not know whether WeChat Pay has stopped facilitating transactions originating in Nepal.”

A greater number of Chinese tourists make unauthorised use of WeChat Pay in Nepal than Alipay, according to Thamel-based business operators. THT has twice tried to get the views of WeChat Pay on this issue, but the e-mails have gone unanswered.