Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has instructed the Finance Minister and the Finance Secretary to allow Nepali citizens to bring two mobiles with them from abroad.
According to the prime minister’s aide Manahari Timilsina, PM Dahal talked to Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel on the phone Tuesday morning about the Tribhuvan International Airport customs not allowing a Nepali returnee from the US to bring two mobile phones.
He also called the Finance Secretary to Baluwatar and told him to implement his instruction, according to Timilsina.
Last Thursday, PM Dahal had instructed the Finance Minister to not immediately implement the decision to levy 18 percent customs duty on more than one mobile phone set brought from abroad by Nepali citizens after the decision was met with widespread criticism.
Dudhlal Nemwang of Jhapa had brought two mobile phones with him from the USA on Monday, but the TIA Customs Office asked him to pay Rs 30,000 in taxes for his new mobile set.
However, a source at the TIA Customs Office claims that they had not received any written instruction until Monday to allow Nepalis to bring two mobile phone sets from abroad.
“We are ready to allow if the prime minister issues a written instruction to the department to allow two phones,” the source said. “Or else, the department should be allowed to do its job. We are mere employees. It is our duty to implement formal decisions.”
The source added that they had not received a clear instruction from the prime minister’s office yet.
