Kathmandu. The study committee formed to investigate the purchase of satellite bandwidth of Nepal Television (currently the Public Service Broadcasting Corporation) has submitted its report to the government.

The committee, which submitted its report to Minister for Information and Communications Dr Bikram Timilsina on Friday, has concluded that serious irregularities such as illegal practices, procedural weaknesses, violation of financial discipline and causing financial loss to the organization have been found in the purchase and purchase of satellite bandwidth at different times.

The Ministry of Information and Communications had formed a study committee on June 5, 2083 based on complaints received by various bodies regarding the purchase of satellite bandwidth, reports of the Office of the Auditor General and issues of public concern. The committee, in its report submitted to the Ministry on Friday, states that the procurement process held in different periods of time violated the provisions of the Public Procurement Act-2063 BS and Public Procurement Rules-2064 and caused financial loss to the NTV. As a result, the loss was estimated at Rs 20,61,73,469, according to the report.

According to the report, the agreement was extended at the old rates without following a competitive process while purchasing the satellite bandwidth rent, the rent was paid before the service started, the bill was paid even after the service started, and more bandwidth was purchased by inflating the cost estimate. The committee has submitted a report along with a serious analysis of the selection of technically unsuccessful bidders for the procurement of services in 2012. Similarly, the report points out that an agreement has been made with the same service provider to purchase an additional 10 MHz bandwidth when the design life of the satellite is over.

The study committee has stated that such activities have caused financial loss to Nepal Television in different periods. Similarly, the report states that the tax and other revenue liabilities that should have been deposited in the revenue account of the Government of Nepal in the payment process of satellite bandwidth have not been fully complied with. The committee concluded that this has also shown serious weaknesses in financial discipline and revenue management.

The committee has found that the decision taken by the top management members and office-bearers of the Board of Directors from the main agreement of 2012 to the subsequent supplementary agreement were taken against the interest of the organization. In the report, they have directly or indirectly taken decisions to harm Nepal Television, saying that necessary action should be forwarded. According to the report, all channels of Nepal Television were stopped broadcasting for about 30 minutes on June 6, 2022 due to negligence in the decision of the Board of Directors.

Similarly, the report also pointed out that the high management within the organization did not provide factual information to the officials appointed to the Board of Directors from outside the Nepal Television and the technical employees of the Ministry and Nepal Television were not discharging their responsibilities as per their expertise. The study committee has concluded that the carelessness and unnatural decision taken in the course of preparing the cost estimate has caused a serious financial burden 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 on the decision to add the channel, upgrade from Standard Definition (SD) to High Definition (HD), make supplementary agreements and purchase equipment. Concluding that procurement without competition, procedural irregularities, unnecessary financial burden, violation of fiscal discipline and conflict of interest were found in the report, the report has recommended the government to take necessary action as per the law.