KATHMANDU, Nov 23: Ncell, a leading private telecommunication service provider of Nepal, has reportedly agreed to support the government's efforts to access highly confidential data of citizens in the name of controlling crime through new provisions.
The Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) had instructed Nepal Telecom and Ncell to immediately implement the Telecommunication Traffic Monitoring and Fraud Control System (TERAMOCS) effective from August 3. The Public Accounts Committee of parliament has shown interest in taking statements from the people involved in the TERAMOCS purchase by the NTA for nearly Rs 3.25 billion.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has taken statements from those involved in this case and is now preparing for a comprehensive study and to file a case. The TERAMOCS technology was bought for Rs 3.15 billion. Sources claim that when this technology comes into operation, the state resources will be spent in excess of Rs 80 million annually. “Not only in the purchase of the TERAMOCS technology, but there is a situation where the state will incur more losses also in the installation process,” the source said.
The NTA had asked for a letter of intent to purchase TERAMOCS on October 6, 2017. Local agents participated in the competition on behalf of foreign companies. Among them, Vanrise Solution was selected by the NTA on December 18, 2018. Sources claim that the NTA’s staff and the Nepali middleman of the contractor company were involved in the tender documents.
Revised interest rate corridor system introduced
The CIAA had sent letters to the NTA on December 18, 2018, March 26, 2018 and April 30, 2019 to cancel the contract process saying that there was collusion in the tender. But after the contractor filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court (SC), the way for the purchase of TERAMOCS was opened. The procurement process was started after the joint bench of the then Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher JBR and Justice Kumar Chudal gave instructions to proceed with the contract on April 27, 2021. According to the sources, although there are other technologies to check the quality of telecommunication services, the then minister decided to buy TERAMOCS at an expensive price.
Vanrise Solutions, which has an office in Lebanon and a registered office in Cyprus, introduced Chinese technology TERAMOCS after the SC’s directive. The UN Security Council has imposed a ban on commercial relations with Lebanon. Despite knowing this, Nepal bought TERAMOCS through a company which is established in the same country.
"As Nepal is also a member state of the UN, since it was banned from sending payments to the Lebanese company, the NTA conducted transactions from Cyprus in agreement with the Nepali middlemen of the Lebanese company Vanrise,” the source said, “The impact of purchasing sensitive technology like TERAMOCS from the company of a country banned by the UN Security Council was not analyzed.”
After the issue of irregularities in the purchase of TERAMOCS was raised in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament, the committee submitted the document for study and discussion. “As the CIAA is conducting an investigation, the committee will not take any decision that would be adverse to it or affect the investigation,” said Rishikesh Pokharel, chairman of the PAC.
According to sources, the then Communications Minister Mohan Bahadur Basnet and Gyanendra Bahadur Karki were also involved in the TERAMOCS procurement process. Basnet is currently the Minister for Health and Population. In this case, current Chief Secretary Baikuntha Prasad Aryal, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration Secretary Binod Prakash Singh, then Secretary for Ministry of Information and Communication Mahendra Man Gurung, then Chairman of the NTA Digambar Jha and others have been dragged into the investigation.
Basnet was the Minister for Communications when the process of purchasing the TERAMOCS technology started. The then Chairman of NTA Jha, Communications Minister Basnet and Communications Secretary Mahendra Man Gurung were present when the procurement contract was called. The TERAMOCS technology procurement process was completed in the tenure of Communications Minister Karki, Communications Secretary Aryal and NTA Chairman Purushottam Khanal.
According to sources, the tender documents were manipulated and the contract was awarded to the Lebanese company Vanrise, and the investigation showed that a scam of Rs 1.5 billion was committed in collusion with that company. Although the procurement process was started in October 2017 when Basnet was the Minister for Communications, nothing was done during the time of the subsequent Ministers for Communications, Gokul Baskota, Parbat Gurung, and Nainkala Thapa. This process was finally completed after Karki became the Minister for Communications.
There are not just allegations of financial irregularities in the purchase of TERAMOCS. This technology is going to be installed to monitor the personal details including phone calls, messages and SMS of the citizens without any law. But Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that the TERAMOCS technology will not be used immediately.
The NTA claims that TERAMOCS has been purchased so that income from voice, data, SMS can be checked. As the service provider is giving products with different rates to the customer, it is not clear how to check the free voice minutes, data and SMS and how to find out the actual income. This seems to have raised suspicions. According to the Ministry of Communication sources, the income of SMS in the fiscal year 2017/18 was about Rs 4 billion. Now it is more than Rs 20 billion. But experts have said that it is not possible to supervise it through the use of the TERAMOCS technology.
