Initially, 45 days were called for bids, 30 days were extended for the second time, after complaints that there was not enough time to collect the documents as per the revised conditions, another 10 days were given.
The passport department has again extended the deadline for submission of bids while questions are being raised about the procurement process of electronic passports. The first time, the department had given 45 days to invite bids, but the second time, it was extended by 30 days. The deadline set for the second time was ending on Tuesday.
After another extension, interested companies can submit bids till February 9.
The department had invited international tenders on November 13 for the purchase of 6.4 lakh copies of e-passport blanks. After questions were raised that the conditions were set with the plan to award the contract to the old French company Idemia, the department amended the conditions and extended the deadline of 30 days.
After that, some companies complained that there was not enough time to collect the necessary documents according to the revised provisions. "If we add 10 days, the competition will increase, some complaints will also be addressed, we believe," Director General of the Department Tirtharaj Aryal said, "If the competition increases, the state will also benefit."
department is about to purchase electronic passports for the next 5 years. 12 billion rupees have been allocated for that. After five years, the department started the process by inviting bids for the purchase of passports. But complaints have been filed in various agencies by raising questions about the process. Earlier also in 2076, the passport purchase process was in controversy.
The representatives of various companies objected to the conditions laid down in the notice issued for the first time for the call for bids, and the representatives of various companies filed a complaint with the Authority Abuse Investigation Commission, Public Procurement Monitoring Office, Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Order and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives. The complainant alleged that the conditions contained in the notification were meant to help the company Idemia, which has been supplying passports in Nepal for a long time. The department has called it baseless.
After the Public Procurement Monitoring Office intervened, the department also amended some of the conditions in the tender. Some provisions in the tender notice were amended by the department on January 7. In the revised notification, up to three companies can apply jointly (joint venture).
Package 1 (establishment of a system related to data management, processing and passport distribution) and Package 2 (purchasing blank passport book and its personal details) has also been amended to give preference to one company. There is a provision that different companies can get the contract for both the packages.
The technical experience of the company applying for 5 years and at least 3 years of experience in production and operation has been amended by revising the conditions. The annual turnover limit for companies eligible to apply for tenders has also been revised. According to the suggestions and requests of interested companies, some provisions of the tender have been amended and the deadline for submission of tenders has also been extended, Director General of the Department Aryal said. Adding 10 days makes 85 days. This is enough time. It cannot be said that time is not enough,' he said.
The representative of an American company in Nepal has recently submitted a complaint to the State Order and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives with a request for an investigation stating that there is corruption in the passport procurement process. He alleges that the department is working to award a tender to the French company Idemia, which has been printing passports for a long time. Chairman of the committee Ramhari Khatiwada informed that a complaint has been received saying that the same company has been printing passports for 10-12 years and the process has been increased to issue them again. 'We have asked the department for details on this matter,' he said, 'We can say something only after studying the documents.' Apart from that, Director General Aryal said that bids were invited in an open, clean and transparent manner based on the prevailing law on public procurement, documents published by the Public Procurement Approval Office, standards and prevailing practices.
"The allegation that the tender document was prepared to benefit a particular company is baseless and factual," he said, "It is regrettable that falsehoods and falsehoods are being propagated." Such propaganda has a multifaceted effect. The credibility of the passport itself becomes weak. It is also important to pay attention to that. He claimed that the companies and their representatives who are serious about participating in the contract process are clear on all matters.
Nepal has started distribution of electronic passports (e-passport) from November 2079. Nepal is the first country in South Asia to distribute e-passport. The department has 1 million 21 thousand 700 copies of passports left. It is estimated to take 10 to 12 months. It is estimated that the department will receive the first batch of new passports only after at least 8 months even if all the procedures are completed within the stipulated time.
Ever since the move to Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) replacing handwritten passports in 2067, the procurement process has been mired in controversy. Even after moving to e-passport, the dispute over the passport purchase process continues. After the government decided to go for e-passport, tenders were invited for the purchase of e-passport for the first time in August 2076. 50 lakh e-passport procurement bids were invited. Later its number was reduced to 2 million copies.
As the procurement process became controversial, the deadline for submission of bids was repeatedly extended. Finally, the department was in a position to cancel the tender notice itself. After that, the notice of the international tender call issued for the second time in February 2076 was also canceled after months. In October 2077, the French company Idemia was entrusted with the supply of passports through the third tender process.
Before that, the same company was also supplying machine readable passports. Later, without going through the tender process, through 'variations', the department has repeatedly purchased more than five million passports from the same company according to the old conditions of the tender.
