Kathmandu. KATHMANDU — The Election Commission (EC) has made it mandatory for the candidates to pay election expenses through the accounts of banks and financial institutions. The EC has made arrangements for the political parties and candidates to open separate bank accounts for spending during the elections. As per this provision, 671 candidates have so far opened election accounts in banks and financial institutions.

According to EC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, out of 3,406 candidates under first-past-the-post (FPTP) category, 671 have opened bank accounts so far.

Earlier, it was not mandatory for the parties and candidates participating in the elections to spend money through their bank accounts. From this year, the provision has been made mandatory for the political parties and candidates to spend their election expenses through bank accounts. The EC believes that the election expenditure through the banking system will be transparent.

According to the EC, the candidates can spend between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 33 lakh depending on the geography. The Commission has made it clear that such provision has been made for financial discipline. According to EC Secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut, most of the candidates from remote districts like Kalikot have not opened their bank accounts.

According to the Nepal Rastra Bank, banks and financial institutions have opened their branches in all 753 local levels of the country. Political parties and candidates are required to receive and spend more than Rs 25,000 from their bank accounts. The Commission had invited the chief executive officers of the banks and financial institutions on Monday and held discussions. Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said that election expenditure would be made transparent through the banking system.

During the discussion with the banks, he said that the EC has prepared a separate directive for the same.