The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has repeatedly changed the criteria for live television broadcasting rights on the eve of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) to be held from November 1. Television broadcasters have protested against the changes in criteria and the extension of the deadline for submitting bids.

CAN had issued a public notice on social media on November 4 for the rights to broadcast live on television within Nepal and ‘OTT live streaming’ rights worldwide. It said that the bid form should be received by November 10 (Monday) and that the tender for the rights to broadcast live should be participated in by 12 noon on November 11.

The notice mentioned that the name of the broadcasting provider that would get the rights to broadcast live would be made public at 2 pm on the same day. However, another time has been set to select the tender for live broadcast only two days before the start of the NPL on Wednesday. 

According to Janakraj Pant, treasurer of the Media Society and executive chairman of TV Today, CAN had informed via email that the criteria for selecting the tender had been changed on the evening of the previous day and the deadline had been extended by 24 hours. The condition requiring ‘proof of involvement in the broadcasting rights of at least one international sports event in Nepal within the last 5 years’ has been changed to ‘proof of involvement in the broadcasting rights related to domestic, regional or international sports events in Nepal within the last 5 years’. 

Those who meet the criteria were told to submit their tenders by 12 noon on Wednesday. But at 10 am on Wednesday, information about the change in the criteria was sent to television operators again. At 12 noon on Wednesday, CAN again informed the companies that received the tender forms through an email, saying that it would clarify one issue. 

Point 2 (A1) of the document previously made public for Nepali Television had a provision related to ‘Exclusive Broadcasting Rights – Linear Television).’ It clearly states, ‘The broadcaster who obtains the rights will get the ‘exclusive right’ to broadcast live broadcasts, highlights and other related content permitted by CAN on television within the borders of Nepal for the entire period of the NPL.’ But before opening the proposal, CAN has put forward a condition that Nepali Television will not get such ‘exclusive’ rights.

Since the Indian television channel Star Sports has already got the ‘exclusive’ rights to broadcast, the criteria have been changed in the tender stating that ‘exclusive’ rights cannot be given to Nepali Television. Nepali television operators have protested that the notification of the change in criteria was sent just two hours before the tender was to be submitted. After that, the previous tender was cancelled and a new tender was called and the next date was set to open at 1 pm on Saturday.

Panta said that they would be happy with whoever gets the broadcasting rights, as many Nepali televisions participate in the competition. ‘Even if many Nepali channels participate in the competition, one will get it, our industry will get it, Nepali television will get it,’ he said, ‘In case CAN does something wrong, we will go to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, the Public Procurement Monitoring Office and the court even if we have to go.’

Former senior vice president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry and operator of Avenues Television, Bhaskarraj Rajkarnikar, said that the institutions there should have the first right in the jurisdiction within the sovereign border. ‘The rights of NPL should be given to us before those in India,’ he said, ‘Rather, conditions should be placed on developing the capacity of Nepali broadcasters. The issue of giving the right to broadcast programs within Nepal to others should not be a priority.'

The body issuing the notice should follow the public procurement regulations, says Rambandhu Subedi, Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office. 'The public body issuing the notice can extend the deadline openly so that all those who have submitted the procurement proposals are informed,' he said. 'The time can be extended by specifying the reason. But it should be done in a way that does not prohibit or support anyone.' 

The Public Procurement Monitoring Office will investigate if someone is supported or prohibited, says Subedi. 'Usually, if a complaint is received, we investigate whether there is an attempt to limit competition or not,' he said. 'There has been no complaint in this regard. If the matter is raised in newspapers and social media, we ask for the file and look into it, even if someone complains.'

Subedi said that it would be wrong if the notice was initially opened so that everyone could compete and then added a provision to settle for someone later. 'If it was done based on the procurement principle, it would be positive, but if it was done with wrong intentions, it would be known,' he said.

CAN spokesperson Chhumbi Lama said there was no wrong intention in this. ‘At the same time that CAN issued the notice, the process was also progressing with India’s Star Sports Company. While Star Sports is taking time to finalize the latest situation, the notice itself mentions that Nepali television will have exclusive broadcasting rights,’ he said. ‘Now, during the discussions between the management team, expert team and the companies coming to the tender to decide whether to go for exclusive broadcasting rights or not, it has been decided to extend the deadline by one day and issue new documents to finalize it.’