Nepal Government Proposes Ending Mandatory Newspaper Publication for Public Tenders

Kathmandu. Government tender advertisements will no longer be required to be published in daily newspapers. The amendment proposal to the Public Procurement Act, prepared by the government, includes a provision that eliminates the need to print tender notices when processed through electronic means.

The Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO) under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has released the draft of the amendment bill for public feedback. Previously, Section 14 (1) of the Public Procurement Act mandated that notices for any tender or pre-qualification proposal must be published in a national daily newspaper, with international media options available for international-level tenders.

The proposed amendment states that this requirement will no longer apply to electronic tenders. The newly added sub-section 1 (a) states, 'However, in cases where a tender or pre-qualification proposal is invited through the electronic procurement system, such notice shall not be required to be published through any medium other than the electronic system.'

Currently, except for projects implemented by consumer committees and direct procurement, tenders are already invited via the PPMO website. If this provision is implemented, advertisements in newspapers will cease.

A few days ago, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers issued a circular to all public entities mandating that such notices be published and broadcast only through government media outlets. Consequently, private media outlets are currently devoid of these advertisements, while government media such as Gorkhapatra are saturated with them.

Organizations, including the Advertising Association, have filed a petition against this decision in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has issued a show-cause order regarding the writ petition filed by them.