The government has fixed a fee of 10,000 taka for registering news portals and 5,000 taka as the fee for annual renewal.
The information was disclosed in a notification issued by the Ministry of Information Sunday night (September 14).
Another order was issued to the Press Information Department (PID), giving it the responsibility of registering online news portals until a commission is formed.
The notification said if the renewal fees are cleared within one month after the cut-off period, an additional 2,000 taka will be levied as a surcharge and 5,000 taka after one month.
The announced fees will be in effect until further notice, it added.
On September 3, the government permitted 92 daily newspapers of the country for registration of their online versions.
“By submitting the fee following the government rules and regulations, these portals, which were initially allowed to register, are requested to complete the registration process within 20 working days from the date of publication of this notification,” a press release by the Ministry of Information said.
The list includes 57 newspapers published from Dhaka, two from Mymensingh, 10 from Chattogram, four each from Rajshahi, Rangpur, Khulna and Barishal, and seven from Sylhet.
