.np Domain May Require Registration Fees, per New Draft Bill

Domain registrants in Nepal may now need to pay to secure a .np domain. The .np is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Nepal.

Mercantile Communication Pvt. Ltd., a web hosting company in Nepal established in 1994, is currently the domain registry for the .np domain and it provides the service free of cost to citizens and organizations in the country.

However, according to a draft bill released on March 10, 2024, by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoCIT) designed to manage IT and cyber security, the Department of Information Technology will now be responsible for domain name-related services.

Section 67 of the draft specifies that an individual or organization wanting to register a .np domain needs to pay a fee set by the department.

Additionally, subsection (5) under section 67 further states that users need to renew their .np domain name every two years by paying a renewal fee.

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If the bill is passed by parliament, currently operating domains will need to register according to this new rule within six months.

The Ministry has sought feedback on it within two weeks. Interested parties can send feedback to info@mocit.gov.np.

Subsection (3) of Section 67 also prohibits registering a domain name or causing it to be too close to one that already exists. Failing to comply diminishes the value of protected names and carries a punishment of up to Rs. 5,00,000, as stated in Section 130.

In addition to this, Government agencies will need to register their respective offices under the gov.np domain.