September 17: The government’s drive to fill the KYC form of customers has hit a snag due to widespread criticism from private companies.

The government had decided to collect details of the customers of private companies from September 18, just like the way it acquires the details of bank customers by making them fill the Know Your Customer (KYC) form.

However, the decision has met with stiff opposition from all quarters of private sector. This has forced the government to postpone its plans for the time being. The government has said it will implement the decision after three months after holding extensive discussions with the stakeholders.

The government has issued a set of guidelines that requires customers involved in transactions more than Rs 250 million to mandatorily fill the KYC form. Companies, which fail to follow the guidelines, can be imposed fine up to Rs 10 million.

According to Registrar at the Company Registrar’s Office Bhuvan Hari Aryal, the government has postponed implementing the guidelines for three months as the Anti-Money Laundering Department under the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Industries has sought more time for further discussions.

Stating that the companies can understand the motive of the guidelines if they study the Anti-Money Laundering Act properly, Aryal said, “The companies have failed to understand the draft prepared by the Company Registrar’s Office.”

The Company Registrar’s Office informed that further discussions will be held on the guidelines with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI).

Meanwhile, President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Satish Kumar Moore said that the guidelines brought without consulting with the stakeholders would land the private sector in trouble.

This is the first time that the government formulated laws to monitor the customers of private companies. Earlier, the government used to survey and monitor the customers of public companies only.