Nepal Television’s Satellite Bandwidth Purchase Investigation Report Claims to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) of more than Rs 200 million
Kathmandu. The Ministry of Information and Communications has sent the report of the probe committee on the purchase of satellite bandwidth of Nepal Television to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).
The Ministry has sent a report to both the bodies on Tuesday, requesting them to carry out necessary study, further investigation and take action as per the law.
The committee formed to study the satellite bandwidth purchase and lease agreement signed by Nepal Television from 2002 to 2022 was held on July 17, 2083 by Minister for Information and Communications Dr. The report was submitted to Vikram Timilsina. The report has been forwarded to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) for further processing, the ministry said.
The committee had studied the entire process of satellite bandwidth lease agreement, supplementary agreement, channel expansion, upgradation from Standard Definition (SD) to High Definition (HD) and equipment purchase with foreign service providers since 2002. The report has concluded that there were serious deficiencies in the procurement and agreements made during various periods against the law, procedural weaknesses, violation of financial discipline and causing financial loss to the organization. According to the Ministry, the committee was formed on June 4 based on complaints received by various bodies, the report of the Auditor General and issues of public concern. The committee’s report states that the government has suffered a loss of around Rs 206.1 million 7
3 thousand 469, citing violation of Public Procurement Act, 2063 BS and Public Procurement Rules, 2064 BS.
According to the report, no competitive process was followed, the agreement was extended repeatedly at the old rate, payment was made before the service started, the bill was paid even after the operation of the service, and more bandwidth was purchased by inflating the cost estimate.
Similarly, the Board has pointed out the decision to purchase additional bandwidth from the same service provider when the bidder, who was found technically unfit in 2012, was selected to purchase the service and the satellite in use is about to expire.
The report states that the tax and other revenue liabilities that should have been deposited in the revenue account of the Government of Nepal have not been fully complied with in the payment process.
The committee concluded that there were serious weaknesses in financial discipline, internal control system and revenue management.
The report states that the top management and the office-bearers of the Board of Directors involved in the original agreement from the original agreement in 2012 to the subsequent supplementary agreement have taken decisions against the interest of the organization and recommended to take necessary action as per the law.
The report also includes the incident on June 6, 2022 when all channels of Nepal Television were disrupted for half an hour due to weakness in the decision-making process of the Board of Directors.
The report states that the top management did not provide factual information to the Board of Directors, the Ministry and the technical employees of Nepal Television did not play an effective role as per their expertise and responsibility, and that negligence and unnatural decisions in course of preparing the cost estimate caused unnecessary financial burden on the organization. The committee has also recommended the government to take necessary action against the person concerned as per the prevailing law, concluding that there were uncompetitive procurement activities, procedural irregularities, violation of financial discipline, unnecessary financial burden and conflict of interest. After the report reaches the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, further study, investigation and legal process is expected to move forward.
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