The problem related to Smart Telecom, which came under the government after being terminated last year, is becoming more complicated after not completing the process including license renewal within the stipulated time. The electricity authority has warned the landlords who let the telecom tower on rent to pay the long-term electricity bills or face action.

Two weeks ago, around 100 aggrieved homeowners staged a dharna at the central office of the Electricity Authority, saying that they had been treated unfairly after the authority's warning. Soon after, they reached the nearby Telecommunication Authority and asked for a solution to the problem. 

Smart's license was revoked in the first week of April 2080. Smart Telecom, which was automatically revoked after not renewing its license due to delay, was brought under the authority of the Telecommunication Authority according to the law. Since then, the authority has not been able to address the company's asset management, customer and vendor confusion. About 2.4 lakh customers' SIMs and crores of rupees in them are also at risk. Telecommunication has not been able to proceed with any temporary structure management work including towers related to Smart. The Telecommunication Authority and the government have not even shown the initiative to form a committee that should be formed for management and property evaluation according to the law.

Experts in this field say that this incident shows how lax the management and regulation of the country's telecommunication sector is. Last year, while resolving the dispute that arose during the transfer of Ncell ownership, the government instructed the Regulatory Telecommunication Authority to allow the service operation only by ensuring that Ncell comes under the government in 2086 after the license period expires. According to the authority's data, the government has been struggling for a year and a half on how to operate Smart Telecom, which has about 2.4 million users, when the service is stopped.

Not only the owners of smart telecom towers, but also users and vendors are protesting by forming separate groups. The seller has been saying that around Rs 53 crore has been trapped in Smart's recharge card. The home owners who had reached the Electricity Authority and complained that they were in trouble due to the lack of timely management of disputes, assets and liabilities of the Electricity Authority, Kulman Ghisingh, Director of the Electricity Authority. They pointed out to Ghising that they could not pay the electricity bill consumed by the smart tower. 

'Smart will pay for the electricity consumed by Smart Telecom's tower, why should we pay the arrears?' "Four years ago, he gave a monthly rent of 16,000 rupees and complained that he stopped getting rent after one and a half years Acharya did. Now the victims are demanding more relief if they can remove the tower instead of collecting the rent. 

Kalpana Khadka of Kupandol expressed her grief that she installed a smart tower on the roof of her house in 2073 and later tried to remove it, but was stopped by the Telecommunication Authority. "There is no insurance for that tower, it has not been maintained for years, it fell down and it was damaged, I am very scared because if someone thinks that I will be responsible," she said. . Prakashbhakta Shrestha of Thapathali said that they were forced to sit on a sit-in after the authority sent a letter saying that if they do not pay the electricity tariff in the name of

Smart, the house's electricity line will be cut off. Recently, a house owner of Dhapasi said that he has paid the electricity fee of 1 lakh 72 thousand rupees in the name of Smart Telecom. 

Nityakumari Khatri of Imadol-3, Lalitpur was sent a letter by Lagankhel Distribution Center of Electricity Authority on December 7 last year and asked to deposit 94,005 in the office within 5 days. "If the outstanding amount is not collected within that time, the landlord will be informed that he will be forced to cut the line of the electric meter in your name," the authority said in the letter addressed to Khatri. She said that she paid the tariff due to the fear that the house line would be cut.

While listening to the complaints of the smart victim group, Ghisingh, director of the Electricity Authority, stated that no one's house line has been disconnected so far. He is committed to find a proper solution by discussing this issue. You may have received a letter asking you to pay the dues. But no one's line will be cut until a proper solution is found in this matter,' he said, 'not only smart, but there is also a problem with UTL's tower, we are looking for a proper solution.' 

There are about 317 Smart Telecom towers in Kathmandu Valley alone and 1700 BTS towers across the country. There are separate electricity meters for the smart and separate electricity meters for the householders in the towers placed in individual houses. The authority has informed that the electricity line given to him has been cut due to the shutdown of Smart Telecom service. However, the authority's deputy executive director Manoj Silwal says that if the company does not pay the electricity tariff consumed while the service is in operation, the bill is sent to the house owner as the responsibility of paying it is due to the law.

'When Smart or UTL did not pay the money, we already cut the line. But till now the bill is coming to the housewife. According to the provisions of the regulation, we charge the minimum fee for 6 months after cutting the line and then we do not charge it," said Silwal, "We have issued a circular to everyone on November 4 to proceed accordingly. Now you have to pay the bill till the line is cleared and after that you have to pay the 6 months minimum fee  The bill after 6 months will be waived.'

80 house owners of Kathmandu Valley have formed a 'Smart Telecommunications Group' and are reporting the problem to parliamentarians and public representatives along with the leadership of the District Administration Office, Electricity Authority, Telecommunication Authority, Ministry of Communication, Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation. Homeowners with towers have received electricity bills ranging from 1 lakh to 12 lakh rupees. Smart owes the government about 27 billion rupees. Before the closure, Smart Telecom was owned 70 percent by Lal Sahu Distributors Pvt Ltd Singapore, 10 percent by Gillette and 20 percent by Sachinlal Acharya-led Square Network. 

Sachinlal is the brother of Satishlal Acharya, who recently bought the ownership of Ncell. After Ghising promised to ease the arrears of electricity tariffs, the victims reached the office of the Telecommunication Authority in Jamal, demanding the removal of the smart tower from their homes. After the authority clarified that the tower cannot be removed, they are now preparing to go to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology to file a complaint. Bhupendra Bhandari, chairman of the Telecommunication Authority, advised the victims to go to other agencies as they could not do anything about it. "I understand your problem, but this is not a matter that I can solve alone, you should go to other agencies as well," Bhandari said to the victims. The authority does not have 100 percent rights to it. Although he will be the coordinator of the Authority Management Committee, there are representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Law and Communications in the committee. Although he tried to do the work in accordance with his obligations on time, he claims that the committee was completed only this week as representatives of the remaining three agencies were available after one and a half years of efforts.