E-passport contract probe puts Nepal government under scrutiny
The unusual episode unfolded on June 15, when Chief Commissioner Prem Rai of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and Foreign Secretary Amrit Rai appeared at the PMO following a verbal summons, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
A meeting convened by Nepal’s Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) last week with senior officials from the country’s anti-corruption body and foreign ministry has sparked a fresh political and diplomatic controversy amid an ongoing investigation into the procurement of electronic passports.
The unusual episode unfolded on June 15, when Chief Commissioner Prem Rai of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and Foreign Secretary Amrit Rai appeared at the PMO following a verbal summons, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
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The discussions reportedly centred on the award of contracts for printing and supplying more than six million electronic passports.
The contracts were awarded in June 2025 to two German companies — Veridos GmbH and Mhuehlbauer. Veridos received a contract worth Rs 6.15 billion for passport printing, while Muehlbauer was assigned biometric services under a separate contract at Rs 1.6 billion.
Sources familiar with the matter said PM Balen Shah had sought information on the progress of the project and concerns surrounding the procurement process. Several officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed members of the ministry’s technical procurement team had declined to endorse proposal to award contracts to German firms.
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“The members from the technical side of the procurement team had refused to endorse the ministry’s proposal last year,” one source said. The CIAA had been informed more than a week earlier about the PM’s concerns regarding the passport procurement process.
Addressing the first national convention of the RSP in Chitwan on Sunday, Prime Minister Shah reiterated his government’s zero-tolerance policy on corruption. He said the government would continue to question the CIAA’s performance if investigations into corruption allegations were not conducted fairly and promptly.
The CIAA has already taken into custody the Director General of the Department of Passports, Mandira Malla, the local representative of Mhuehlbauer, as part of its investigation.
Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah. (AP/File) 
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