KATHMANDU:- The Office of the Auditor General has urged the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) to deposit the amount collected as mountaineering royalty in the divisible fund and inform the concerned ministry about it on time.
As per Section 7 of the Intergovernmental Fiscal Management Act, 2074, the royalty received from mountaineering is required to be deposited in the Federal Divisible Fund. The amount collected in the fund is to be distributed among the federal government, provincial governments and local levels, as mentioned in the 63rd Annual Report prepared by the Office of the Auditor General.
The Nepal Mountaineering Association is assigned to collect royalties from 27 mountain peaks up to 6,000 meters high across the country. The association has received royalty worth Rs 122 million but was found delaying the depositing of royalties to the divisible fund.
According to the details received from the Ministry of Tourism, the NMA has yet to pay the royalty of Rs 96.3 million. The Auditor General’s report states that the association should collect the remaining royalties and deposit them on time.