Kathmandu. The Ministry of Information and Communications has sent the report of the probe committee on the purchase of satellite bandwidth of Nepal Television, 2083 BS to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).

Sending the reports to both the agencies on Tuesday, the Ministry requested for necessary study, further investigation and necessary action as per the law.

A study committee formed to investigate the satellite bandwidth signed by Nepal Television from 2002 to 2022 had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on July 17, 2083 with Minister for Information and Communications Dr. The report was submitted to Bikram Timilsina. The report has been sent to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) for further processing.

The study committee had studied the satellite bandwidth lease agreement that Nepal Television has been doing since 2002 with foreign service providers, its various complementary agreements, channel expansion, upgradation from Standard Definition (SD) to High Definition (HD) and equipment purchase. The report has concluded that there were serious deficiencies in the procurement and agreements made during different periods of violation of law, procedural weaknesses, violation of financial discipline and causing financial loss to the organization.

The Ministry had formed the committee on June 4 to study the complaints received by various bodies related to the purchase of satellite bandwidth, reports of the Office of the Auditor General and issues of public concern. According to the report submitted by the committee, the procurement process during various periods violated the provisions of the Public Procurement Act-2063 BS and Public Procurement Regulations-2064 BS and caused loss worth Rs 206.1 million.

According to the report, the agreement period was extended time and again at the old rates without following the competitive process while purchasing satellite bandwidth, payment was made before the service started, high amount of bill was paid even after the operation of the service and more bandwidth was purchased by inflating the cost estimate.

Similarly, the committee has pointed out the issue of the decision to purchase additional bandwidth from the same service provider even when the satellite in use was about to expire in 2012 and the decision was made to purchase additional bandwidth from the same service provider even when the life of the satellite in use was about to expire.

According to the study, the tax and other revenue obligations that should have been deposited in the revenue account of the Government of Nepal in the payment process have not been fully complied with. The committee concluded that this has shown serious weaknesses in financial discipline, internal control system and revenue management.

The report states that the top management and 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. Stating that they have directly or indirectly taken the decision to cause financial and institutional loss to Nepal Television, the committee has recommended to initiate necessary action against the person concerned as per the law.

The report has also included 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 of Nepal Television.

It has also been noted that the high management within the organization has not provided factual information to the office-bearers of the Board of Directors and the technical employees of the Ministry and Nepal Television have not played an effective role as per their expertise and responsibility. The report has also concluded that due to the carelessness and unnatural decisions seen in the preparation of cost estimates, unnecessary financial burden has been put on the organization.

Since 2002, Nepal Television has been continuously signing lease agreements with foreign satellite bandwidth service providers to broadcast its channels through satellite. During this period, questions were raised time and again on the decisions related to channel expansion, upgradation of broadcasting technology, supplementary agreement and purchase of equipment.

The committee has also recommended the government to take necessary action against the individuals involved in uncompetitive procurement, procedural irregularities, violation of fiscal discipline, undue financial burden and conflict of interest. It is expected that further study, investigation and legal process will move ahead on the basis of the report after the report has reached the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority.