The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has directed all ministries and subordinate bodies to make payments only after the mandatory submission of third-party bills in government and public advertisements.
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The Prime Minister's Office on Monday issued a circular to all ministries, secretaries of ministries, constitutional bodies, commissions, secretaries and offices, the offices of the Chief Ministers and Council of Ministers of all provinces, and the Chief Secretaries of provinces, directing them to make third-party billing mandatory when paying for government advertisements.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had sent a letter to the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday (Mangsir 7) directing it to control irregularities in government advertisements. The next day, the Good Governance, Corruption Control and Employee Support Branch under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers sent a letter to the relevant ministries and agencies asking them to implement the directive.
Every year, around 3 billion rupees worth of government advertisements are lost. The CIAA is also investigating the matter after the advertisement money was embezzled in collusion between agencies and employees.
While the investigation into the amount of the lost advertisements is underway, a third-party bill has to be submitted for payment of the amount due. An official from the Prime Minister's Office said that if this is violated, the party making the payment will be brought under the ambit of irregularities and invalidation.
Section 32 of the Advertisement (Regulation) Act, 2076 BS stipulates that a copy of the bill issued by the media outlet for publishing an advertisement must be submitted along with a bill showing the agency's service charges. Rule 6 of the Advertisement (Regulation) Rules, 2077 BS also makes it mandatory to submit a third-party bill.
