Kathmandu-   A company previously disqualified on technical grounds was later declared as technically qualified under political influence in a multi-million-dollar contract to print 6.4 million electronic passports.

The tender process was split into two parts. Package I dealt with passport distribution and the necessary equipment, while Package II covered personalization, quality checks, and booklet packaging.

To evaluate bids, the Department of Passports formed two bodies: a five-member main evaluation committee and a 12-member technical subcommittee. 

For Package I, proposals were submitted by three firms—France’s IDEMIA, Germany’s Muehlbauer, and Malaysia’s IRIS Corporation Berhad. IRIS was eliminated due to ineligibility. This left IDEMIA and Muehlbauer for detailed technical review.

The subcommittee evaluated 238 technical criteria and concluded that Muehlbauer failed to meet several mandatory standards. Despite these findings, the main committee overruled the subcommittee and declared Muehlbauer technically qualified. Internal sources allege this reversal was influenced by senior leaders from the CPN-UML party.

Evidence reviewed by Bizness News includes a final evaluation report, signed by Director General Tirtharaj Aryal on April 16, which contradicts the original subcommittee findings. Officials close to the subcommittee claim that the report was changed without proper explanation.

IDEMIA’s proposal, meanwhile, contained issues the subcommittee believed warranted clarification from the Public Procurement Monitoring Office. However, the department chose not to seek that clarification, and IDEMIA was declared technically qualified without further inspection. 

A subcommittee member, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that there was a clear intent among senior officials to award the contract to IDEMIA—regardless of the technical evaluation.

In the case of Package II, four companies—IDEMIA, Veridos (Germany), Muehlbauer, and Poland’s PW PW—have made bids.  The subcommittee examined 297 technical benchmarks, ultimately finding only IDEMIA and Veridos compliant. Nevertheless, the main evaluation team overlooked the findings and approved all four, once again prompting allegations of manipulation.

Documents seen by Bizness News show altered reports bearing signatures from both committee levels, allegedly changed under high-level pressure.

The financial bids for both packages are slated to be opened on May 28. Insiders say the tender documents were drafted in a way—particularly discount and counter-discount clauses—that favored IDEMIA.

The international tender was announced on November 28, 2024, and technical bids were opened on February 21.  The evaluation committee was chaired by Director General Aryal and included members from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Passports. The technical subcommittee, led by IT Director Sunil Kumar KC, featured representatives from the Nepal Police, Nepal Telecom, Nepal Rastra Bank, and other agencies.