Kathmandu, July 26
Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, the import of mobile phones has doubled in the past year in Nepal in terms of the money the country spent on phones and the revenues it collected in taxes.
The Department of Customs has revealed the following data about the import of mobile phones in the country in the past three years:
| Fiscal year | Number of mobile phone sets imported | Money spent (Rs) | Revenues collected (Rs) |
| 2020/21 | 7.03 million | 36.9 billion | 5.84 billion |
| 2019/20 | 4.365 million | 18.17 billion | 2.87 billion |
| 2018/19 | 4.275 million | 19.27 billion | 3.52 billion |
Purushottam Basnet, the president of the Nepal Mobile Traders Association, says most of the imports are smartphones. “Following the pandemic, the smartphone market boomed in Nepal. There are many people who gave up their bar phones to go for smartphones.”
He might be right as many people required mobile phones just to let their children attend online classes.
As the total amount spent on phones has more than doubled although the number of sets has not increased to that extend, more people are seen attracted to more expensive products, according to him.
Sadhuram Bogati, a trader based in New Road, says the demand for phones in the price range between Rs 15,000 and Rs 35,000 is excessively high of late.
