Corruption Case Against Former Nepal Telecom MD Sunil Poudel and 17 Others Set for Hearing

The hearing for the corruption case against 18 individuals, including former Managing Director of Nepal Telecommunications Company Limited (NTCL), Sunil Poudel, has been scheduled. The hearing will take place before a bench comprising Special Court Chairman Sudarshan Dev Bhatta and Dilliratna Shrestha.

Former NTCL Managing Director Poudel and others are accused of corruption through collusion in the upgrade of Nepal Telecom's billing system. A claim for damages amounting to NPR 330 million has been filed against them.

On Jestha 6, 2068 BS, then Managing Director Poudel and others signed an agreement with the Chinese company AsiaInfo Linkage Technology for the Convergent Real-Time Billing and Customer Support (CRTBCS) billing system.

The objective was to integrate telecommunication services operating on various platforms, such as GSM mobile, fiber, internet, leased line, wireline, and wireless broadband, onto a single platform, enabling real-time billing for immediate charge calculation and updates.

The procurement agreement stipulated that the Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) could provide services for up to six years, and the payment for the Annual Maintenance and Support (AMAC) should be made at a decreasing rate of 5 percent annually.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) alleges that Poudel and the defendants, knowingly aware of the existing agreement with the company, secured an unfavorable AMAC service from AsiaInfo at an unnatural price, contrary to the provision of a 5 percent annual discount.

They had agreed to purchase the AMC service for US$ 20.5 million. According to the original agreement, the annual AMAC amount would have been US$ 3.472 million.

However, the CIAA alleges that in the second year, while purchasing the AMC service, four supplementary agreements were made, resulting in the purchase of the AMC service for US$ 358.6 million. Furthermore, two additional supplementary agreements were made after purchasing the AMC service in the second year.

The CIAA concluded that based on the meeting of Ashoj 6, 2078 BS, the purchase for five years of AMC service, including the annual discount, should have cost US$ 16 million, but out of the US$ 20.5 million, US$ 18.5 million was spent on AMC, excluding the costs for new features and training.