Nepal Bans Telegram App Over Financial Frauds, Lack Of Cooperation | World News

New Delhi: The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) ordered all telecom service providers in the country to prevent access to the telegram messaging application. This decision came after repetitive warnings and demands from the Nepal Police Cyber Office, which marked the application as a tool for financial fraud and money laundering.

NTA, in a statement, confirmed the directive by stating that the decision was taken in response to serious concerns brought to the agenda by security institutions. Nta, “Telegram online frauds through the Nepal continues to rise in Nepal and the application is involved in crimes such as money laundering, all telecom service providers are aimed to prevent the telegram immediately,” he said.

Authority said that fraud plans through telegram have increased soon. These include fake job offers, crypto fraud and other deceptive tactics. The Prime Ministry, the Ministry of Interior and other key officials held meetings to discuss the issue.

After being informed about a few money laundering cases linked to Telegram, the Prime Minister sent an official letter to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. Another important reason behind the ban is that Telegram refuses to cooperate with law enforcement officers.

The Ministry tried to contact Telegram’s official representative, but could not find a local focus. On Friday, he wrote to NTA who wanted the block. Shortly after, authority instructed all telecom and internet providers to interrupt access to the application.

Telegram has been criticized for a long time insecure and not sharing user data with the authorities. Countries like China have already banned practice because of similar concerns. The discussions surrounding Telegram grew further after the arrest of his founding partner Pavel Durov in France in August 2024.

Durov, who founded the Russian social network VK, was arrested at Le Bourget Airport and was later accused of many charges, including child exploitation material and complexity in the distribution of drug trafficking.

He left France and was taken under judicial control. The arrest of DUROV led to great protests by free speech activists and telegraph users.

In March 2025, a judge allowed Durov temporarily left France and left the country within the same month.