Nepal allows foreign companies to self-certify compliance with radio transmission, electromagnetic interference (EMI), or electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) standards through a Supplier Declaration of Conformity (SDoC).
According to Arts. 13-14 of the Telecommunications Act, 2053, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) oversees type approval in Nepal, and compliance with these regulations is mandatory before importing or selling any radio telecommunication Customer Premises Equipment (CPEs) in the country.
Decision No. 3,327 provides further information about the procedure.

The Electronic Transactions Act establishes a safe harbour regime for intermediaries for copyright infringements. According to Art. 43, network service providers are not subject to criminal or civil liability arising from third-party content. The only exception is if the network service provider publishes the content, knowing it contravenes the law.

Nepal lacks a comprehensive regime for the protection of trade secrets. However, the Industrial Enterprises Act, 2076 (2020) contains general provisions that protect intellectual property, including trade secrets.

The Electronic Transactions Act establishes a safe harbour regime beyond intermediaries for copyright infringements. According to Art. 43 of the Act, network service providers are not subject to criminal or civil liability arising from third-party content. The only exception is if the network service provider publishes the content knowing it contravenes the law.

It is reported that there is no obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Nepal to deliver telecom services to end users. However, passive infrastructure sharing is practised in both the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements.
It is further reported that the relevant legal framework is set out in the Telecommunications Infrastructure Sharing and Fee Determination Bylaw, 2078, and the Infrastructure Sharing Guideline, 2072. However, English versions of these instruments are not publicly available.

It is reported that Nepal imposes an identity requirement for SIM registration. Anyone wanting to purchase a SIM card has to provide their national ID card or a passport in case of foreigners to activate a new prepaid SIM card.

According to Section 5.6.2 of the Telecommunication Policy Act, foreign ownership in the telecommunications sector is subject to a maximum equity limit of 80%.

The government owns shares in some telecommunications companies. In particular, Nepal Telecom (NTC), or Nepal Doorsanchar Company Limited (NDCL), the incumbent telecommunications operator, is a state-owned company with approximately 92% state shareholding.

Nepal does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there is an obligation of accounting separation. According to Section 5.4 of the Guideline for tariff Approval for Telecommunications Services, all licensees are required to establish and maintain separate accounts for each service specified in the license.

Under Section 33 of Nepal’s Telecommunications Act, 2053 (1997), where telecommunications-related land, buildings, plant, equipment, or other facilities have been developed with more than 50% foreign investment, ownership of those assets transfers to the Government upon expiry of the licence period. Under Section 33(2), the former licensee may repurchase the assets at a price fixed by the Government and, upon obtaining a new licence, continue operating the telecommunications service.

Nepal has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

It is reported that the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Section 9.4 of the IoT/M2M Regulatory Framework stipulates that personally‑indefinable information (that is, data that cannot be used to identify a specific individual) must be stored exclusively within Nepal. Moreover, at least one copy of all relevant data must be stored within Nepal. However, the provision does not specify what 'relevant data' is. Furthermore, the same provision encourages 'complete data localisation', which is also not clarified.

Pursuant to Rule 7A of the National Broadcasting Regulation, licensed over-the-top (OTT) operators offering services to customers or generating revenue within Nepal are obligated to establish a cache server in Nepal. These operators are required to register customers on a server located in Nepal before granting access to their content and must retain detailed customer information. Additionally, all transaction records must be securely stored on a Customer Management System Server. However, the regulation does not clearly define the term "Customer Management System Server" or specify whether such a server must be physically situated within Nepal and directly managed by the OTT service providers. The regulation defines OTT as the broadcasting of content on demand via the internet, encompassing media streaming services delivered through various platforms utilising internet connectivity

Section 3.7 of the "Data Center and Cloud Service (Operation and Management) Directives, 2081 (2025)" provides that, in the context of government data centres and cloud service provision, the security agencies of the government of Nepal are mandatorily required to use data centre and cloud services operated by the Integrated Data Management Center. According to its official website, the Integrated Data Management Centre operates under the Department of Information Technology and serves as the government of Nepal's implementing agency. Furthermore, Section 3.9 stipulates that, upon the commencement of the Directives, government bodies operating data centres and cloud services on a departmental or agency basis shall transfer such facilities to the government data centre within the timeframe specified by the steering committee; however, where a government body submits a request, supported by sufficient justification, to operate a primary or secondary site, the steering committee may grant consent for the operation of such a site based on its suitability.