The Government of Nepal is preparing to shut down the social media platform Telegram, citing its use in fraud and money laundering activities.
The National Coordination Committee for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorist Activities, under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, has initiated the process to ban Telegram.
According to the source, the committee sent a letter to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology on July 17, requesting that Telegram be brought under legal action.
Gajendra Kumar Thakur, spokesperson for the Ministry, confirmed to Onlinekhabar about the letter.
“We have received the letter, but rather than immediately shutting it down, the directive is first to assess whether Telegram is being used for money laundering-related activities,” Thakur said. “We will consult with the Department of Money Laundering Investigation, Nepal Police, and other relevant agencies. Only after that, a decision will be made.”
According to the source, during a recent meeting of the committee, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deepak Thapa briefed the members that criminal activities, including fraud, were increasing via Telegram and were linked to money laundering.
Thakur mentioned that a decision regarding this could be made by Sunday.
The committee is chaired by the Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and includes secretaries from the Ministries of Finance, Law, Home, and Foreign Affairs, as well as representatives from the Office of the Attorney General and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. The Deputy Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, the Inspector General of Nepal Police, and the Chief of the Department of Money Laundering Investigation are also members.
As per the source, IGP Thapa had stated in the meeting, “Most of the crimes happening online today are linked to Telegram,” adding, “ Most of them are associated related to frauds.”
In September 2024, Telegram’s founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France. He was accused of involvement in illegal transactions, drug trafficking, fraud, and the distribution of child sexual abuse materials via Telegram. Although France later released him on bail, his arrest sparked global debate on regulating the app.
Telegram was also linked to a major incident in Nepal in December 2024, when hackers stole 35 million rupees from a Citizens Bank account by breaching the F1Soft system. According to an official who attended the national coordination committee meeting said that this case was also discussed.
At the time of Durov’s arrest, some critics referred to Telegram as a “dark web under the guise of social media.”
In the Citizens Bank hacking case, it was revealed that the hackers lured unemployed youths through Telegram to commit the crime. There is also suspicion that Telegram is used in drug trafficking.
According to a senior official at the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), Telegram falls outside the scope of regular regulation and has been continuously used for criminal purposes. As a result, the Home Ministry was urged at the time to take action.
“This issue has come up in high-level meetings before, but it was not pursued further,” the official said. “If it is now being taken seriously, that’s a good step.”
