KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has directed the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) to block the online betting apps within 24 hours. A meeting held today at the Ministry under the chair of Communications and Information Technology Minister Dr Bikram Timilsina made this directive.

With the decision, the NTA has also initiated processes to block the online betting apps. NTA’s Assistant Spokesperson Dr Pradip Paudyal said that steps were already initiated to block online betting apps by asking operators to abide by the directive. Earlier, a cabinet meeting held on March 27 decided to close the online betting apps in Nepal. The government has argued that the decision to close the online betting apps was taken to curb illegal financial transactions and control capital flight.

In today’s meeting, Minister Dr Timilsina asked top-level officials of the Ministry to submit action plans to provide instant service to the people and to ensure prompt and effective public service delivery through maximum use of available means and resources. He stated that the focus should be on digital governance and data governance so that the people would be directly benefited.