Nepal Telecom postponed the bidding process for the new billing system on October 21, citing special circumstances, after it reached the final stage. The company postponed the process after completing the technical evaluation of the applicants during the bidding process and moving forward with the financial proposal process.

On Bhadra 9, the Telecom had already published a notice that the Chinese company Huawei Technologies Company Limited had been selected based on sufficient grounds in the technical evaluation among those participating in the ‘tender’ process of the billing system. The notice also mentioned that the financial proposal of the only company selected in the technical evaluation would be opened on Asoj 29 at 1 pm.

Telecom, however, issued a new notice on Kartik 7 and informed that the bidding process had been postponed until further notice. The notice also mentioned that another notice would be published for the new date, time and place for opening the financial proposal.

After the Telecom published the notice, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology formed a seven-member committee under the leadership of former Secretary Maniram Gelal on Kartik 13 to study the tender process of the billing system. Due to all these developments, the billing tender process of the Telecom company has now been stopped.

Currently, the billing system of Nepal Telecom is being handled by the Chinese company Asia Info. The company was awarded a 10-year contract in December 2011. In 2021, the company's term was extended for one year, and in 2022, the company's term was extended for another five years.

Asia Info's current term is until September 2027. The tender process will have to be completed and a new company selected before that time expires. If the tender process is not completed before that time, experts say there is no option but to extend Asia Info's term again.

According to Sabina Maskey Pradhan, acting managing director of Nepal Telecom, the recent halt in the tender process has caused problems in working. According to her, the billing tender process should be finalized at least 24 months in advance to give it to a new company. 'When a company is selected 24 months in advance, it is easier for data migration and other tasks, but now we have 22 months, the longer the contract process is, the more difficult it becomes,' he said.

What is the issue?

Nepal Telecom first called for a tender for the billing system in March 2024. Only the American company CSG International participated in the tender process. The company was eliminated during the technical evaluation and the tender was canceled.

Then, the telecom company sought proposals from Huawei, Whale Cloud, CSG, Oracle, Mdocs and Netcracker, the world's top companies working on the telecom's billing system, to understand the business support solution and cost.

After the American and European companies said that the budget was insufficient, the telecom asked for a 'quotation' with a possible budget from the potential bidders. However, citing the Supreme Court order, Nepal Telecom re-called a tender for the billing system in March 2025 with the same budget as before, without increasing the cost. After the telecom invited bids at the same price, American and European companies did not participate, while only Huawei and Whale Cloud participated.

During the technical evaluation, the telecom had formed a tender evaluation committee of experts, which took three months to evaluate. Telecom selected Huawei from the two companies that applied, citing sufficient basis for technical qualification.

According to the procurement law, the financial aspects of the selected company have to be opened after passing the technical process. If the company is found eligible in the financial proposal as well, the contract is given to it. But after the telecom issued a notice that the process was postponed without opening the financial proposal, the entire process has now become uncertain.

Supreme Court's order

After the billing tender process began, a writ was filed in the Supreme Court on 20 Jestha 2081, alleging a conflict of interest in having the billing system work done by a company that was already working on the network.

Hearing the writ, a joint bench of Justices Dr. Nahakul Subedi and Mahesh Sharma Poudel had ordered the procurement process to be carried out by ensuring that the personal information and data of the person who should be under the main communication system (network) of the company that produces or sells the billing system is not accessed.

Nepal Telecom spokesperson Rabindra Manandhar said that they have proceeded with the contract process as per the order of the Supreme Court. He said that although he did not know much about the investigation committee formed by the ministry, the process has been carried out as per the decision of the Supreme Court.

'The Supreme Court's decision was to ensure that personal information and data of individuals are not accessed and that there is no conflict of interest in the procurement process,' he said, 'Technically, there is no problem with privacy as there are proving tools between the Mobile Switching Center (MSC) node and the billing system.'

Similarly, there are complaints from the public that Asia Info, which is currently doing billing work, is repeatedly facing problems because it is using old technology.' Spokesperson Manandhar says that problems arise not only due to old technology but also sometimes due to other reasons. 'It is not said that the disruption of telecom services is only due to the old technology of the billing system, sometimes the problem occurs due to energy or sometimes link breakdown, there may not be only one reason.'

Investigation Committee

Rakesh Gurung, Private Secretary to Minister for Communications and Information Technology Jagdish Kharel, responded that a committee formed by the ministry is working to investigate the contract for the billing system.