NOVEMBER 10, 2008 The government has amended National Broadcasting Regulation-2052 BS, specifying the provision that cable broadcast agencies and organizations transmitting programme with non-profit motive should pay transmission and distribution royalty equivalent to two per cent of annual total income. Earlier, there was the provision that all type of broadcasting organizations should pay transmission and distribution royalty worth four per cent of their total income.
According to Ministry for Information and Communication, the broadcasting organization with non-profit motive is deemed as the broadcasting organization registered as per the prevailing law of registration of organization.
Likewise, the amended Regulation provisioned of charging 10 per cent of the license fee for the renewal of non-profit-making cable television transmission while the renew charge for broadcasting organizations being operated with profit-making motive is 50 per cent of license fee.
The license could be renewed for five years once and 25 per cent of license fee would be exempted while renewing for this period.
The concerned broadcasting organizations or individuals should submit audit report of the fiscal year while paying dissemination and distribution royalty and the government could ban and cut off grant and advertisement, stop import of communication materials and raw materials and cancel press card of those broadcasting organizations, which do not pay necessary royalty, according to the new provision.
The government has decided to exempt fee to renew on-air radio, broadcasting television and cable transmitters regularly being renewed as well as additional charge involved for renewal purpose for fiscal year 2008-09. It was also decided to waive 50 per cent of royalty the broadcasters and transmitters have to pay to the government in every fiscal year.
Freedom Forum welcomes the government’s decision taken in favour of broadcasting organizations and cable transmitters. We are happy to share that the Forum has putting pressure on the government to take initiative in this connection.
For more information,
Freedom Forum
monitoring@freedomforum.org.np
01-4102030/ 4102022