E-passport contract probe places Nepal authorities beneath scrutiny | World Information
2 min learnKathmanduJun 22, 2026 05:24 AM IST
A gathering convened by Nepal’s Prime Minister’s Workplace (PMO) final week with senior officers from the nation’s anti-corruption physique and international ministry has sparked a recent political and diplomatic controversy amid an ongoing investigation into the procurement of digital passports.
The weird episode unfolded on June 15, when Chief Commissioner Prem Rai of the Fee for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and Overseas Secretary Amrit Rai appeared on the PMO following a verbal summons, in keeping with a number of sources accustomed to the matter.
The discussions reportedly centred on the award of contracts for printing and supplying greater than six million digital passports.
The contracts had been awarded in June 2025 to 2 German firms — Veridos GmbH and Mhuehlbauer. Veridos acquired a contract value Rs 6.15 billion for passport printing, whereas Muehlbauer was assigned biometric companies beneath a separate contract at Rs 1.6 billion.
Sources accustomed to the matter stated PM Balen Shah had sought data on the progress of the undertaking and issues surrounding the procurement course of. A number of officers, talking on situation of anonymity, claimed members of the ministry’s technical procurement group had declined to endorse proposal to award contracts to German companies.
“The members from the technical facet of the procurement group had refused to endorse the ministry’s proposal final yr,” one supply stated. The CIAA had been knowledgeable greater than every week earlier in regards to the PM’s issues concerning the passport procurement course of.
Addressing the primary nationwide conference of the RSP in Chitwan on Sunday, Prime Minister Shah reiterated his authorities’s zero-tolerance coverage on corruption. He stated the federal government would proceed to query the CIAA’s efficiency if investigations into corruption allegations weren’t performed pretty and promptly.
Story continues beneath this advert
The CIAA has already taken into custody the Director Basic of the Division of Passports, Mandira Malla, the native consultant of Mhuehlbauer, as a part of its investigation.
