From Monday, all paid foreign television channels broadcasting in Nepal will be closed.

The Ministry of Communications had fixed the fee by implementing the 'Ala Cart' price system last March. Aala Kart stands for 'Pay Television' service. This means that Nepali consumers can watch only their favorite channels by paying a fee.

Now all the channels come when you pay for the Ekmust package. The consumer did not have the right to choose the channel. After the introduction of Ala Kart, the government made arrangements to watch only the channels of their choice by paying a fee.

Through the ministerial decision of March 15th, the Ministry of Communication determined the fees that the service providers who have permission to distribute television channel signals can charge from the consumers.

The government had first informed all operators of Nepal and foreign television channels and organizations (distributors) with downlink permission of foreign channels to provide ala cart fee and book on May 17.

Then again on Baisakh 31, the Information and Broadcasting Department under the Ministry of Communications said. Then on June 17th, all the foreign signal distributors and operators of Nepal were sent a letter again, informing them that the Alakart fee system will be fully implemented from July 1st and asking them to provide the paid foreign channel fees and bookings to the Department by June 28th. However, the department has not received any fee or book till that time.

Because of this, all paid television channels broadcasting in Nepal will be stopped from Monday.

According to the Ministry of Communication, for the minimum (basic package) fee, only 250 rupees can be charged including monthly tax. In this package, the broadcasting organization will have to show Nepali and foreign 'free to air' channels that can be watched for free.

According to the ministry, such channels should include informational, news, educational, entertaining, sports and other content.

The channel operators were allowed to collect fees from consumers only on a separate or booked basis for broadcasting paid channels. The government has fixed the maximum price of each bouquet channel at Rs 40 including tax. The government has banned taking more than 40 rupees including tax.

Channel operators are allowed to charge only 250 rupees per month including tax for paid television channels.

Buke channel means various channels operated by star group for example. That is, television channels of different nature provided by a single company.

Bouquet channels can also be understood as channels that are offered in a bundle by the same group. For example, Star Sports, Star Plus, Star Movies, Star World, Star Gold, etc. are called bouquets.

Paid television channels should also include information, news, educational, entertainment, sports and other content. According to the arrangement made by the government, the operator will not be allowed to charge more than 500 rupees per month for the basic package and the maximum tax.

The ministry has made it compulsory for channel operators to follow the decision, saying that consumers can decide for themselves whether to choose paid television channels or not.

Similarly, it is arranged that local Nepali distributors should be selected to broadcast foreign free-to-air channels in Nepal with downlink permission. According to the ministry, the signal should be provided to all Nepali channel operators without discrimination by making an agreement with the said distributor.

The government has also banned the sale of internet and television channels in a single package (bundling). Similarly, the ministry said that the maximum monthly payment of 500 rupees for television broadcasting and payment for internet services should not be more than the current combined fee The service providers have been informed to provide the service so that the fee of television service is shown separately with the internet service.

Even doing this, it has been informed that it should not be more than the current fee. The ministry has been saying that the channel operators are going to implement a special cart price system to make the fees collected from consumers transparent, systematic and scientific.