The Department of Information has directed Gorkha Media Network Pvt. Ltd., Upkar Media Group Pvt. Ltd., Balabhadra Media Pvt. Ltd., Annapurna Broadcast Media Pvt. Ltd., Satyaputri Media Pvt. Ltd., Societal Media Pvt. Ltd. and Team Television Pvt. Ltd. to contact the department within 7 days and pay the amount as per the rules.
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The Department of Information and Broadcasting has given an ultimatum to seven media organizations that have not renewed their licenses and have not paid the revenue due to the state to pay the amount within 7 days. The department issued a public notice on Thursday to issue a final warning to those organizations, whose licenses have been automatically canceled due to non-renewal within the stipulated time, to pay the amount along with the fine.
The department has directed Gorkha Media Network Pvt. Ltd., Upkar Media Group Pvt. Ltd., Balabhadra Media Pvt. Ltd., Annapurna Broadcast Media Pvt. Ltd., Satyaputri Media Pvt. Ltd., Social Media Pvt. Ltd. and Team Television Pvt. Ltd. to contact the department within 7 days and pay the amount as per the rules.
According to the department's information officer, Min Kumar Sharma, the mentioned organizations have a provision to renew their licenses within one year as per the rules. 'If they do not renew, there is a provision for a fine of 10 percent in the first month, 20 percent in the second month, 30 percent in the third month, and up to 100 percent in 6 months,' Information Officer Sharma said, 'They have neither paid the revenue nor renewed it yet, but the organization is still running.'
After the concerned organizations did not pay the revenue for a long time, the Auditor General's Office had issued a notice during the audit of the department. The department has stated that it has issued this notice to clear the same notice. If the amount is not paid even within the 7-day deadline, the department is prepared to proceed with further legal proceedings in consultation with the legal officer.
According to Rule 16 of the National Broadcasting Regulations, 2052, there is a provision that the license period is one fiscal year and it must be renewed before the end of that period. There is a legal provision that the license will be automatically canceled if it is not renewed even within 6 months of the expiration. According to the department, the licenses of these 7 media organizations have already been canceled due to non-renewal within the deadline.
The Auditor General's instructions to recover 43 million
The Office of the Auditor General had also raised questions about these organizations operating their businesses despite the cancellation of their licenses but not paying the 'broadcasting and distribution fees' and fines that should have been paid to the government.
The 63rd Annual Report of the Auditor General, 2083, states, 'As per the financial statements of the organizations concerned, 7 organizations have been found to be continuing their broadcasting activities regularly, so they should be brought under the purview of the law and 43 million rupees should be recovered including broadcasting, renewal fees and fines.'
According to the report, out of the 249 television organizations registered so far this year, 153 have not renewed their licenses.
According to the statistics of the Department of Information and Broadcasting, there are currently a total of 14,842 media outlets registered across the country. Which includes 8,058 newspapers, 5,307 online platforms, 1,207 FM radio stations and 252 TV channels.
