KATHMANDU, July 1: Nepal’s passport supply is nearing a crisis as the Department of Passports (DoP) is running low on stock, with only around 33,000 passports remaining—enough to meet demand for roughly one week.
A senior official at the department said around 5,000 passports are currently being distributed daily.
“Only around 33,000 passports are left in stock. It will last for about a week. After that, our stock will run out,” the official said.
Department officials are confident that Veridos GmbH, the German company awarded the passport printing contract, will print and supply new passports before the existing stock runs out. However, the department has no clear contingency plan if the company fails to deliver passports on time after the stock is exhausted.
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“We have not thought about that issue,” an official said, refusing to comment further on the possible crisis.
Sources said the secretariat of Prime Minister Balendra Shah has sought to cancel the contract signed with the German company due to delays in passport printing. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed the department to wait until the deadline given to the company under the agreement.
Following the ministry’s instruction, the department has not cancelled the contract with Veridos. It has given the company a final deadline of July 19 to print and supply passports and decided to wait until then.
Rs 7.5 billion contract and corruption case
After the previous passport printing contract expired, the DoP signed a Rs 7.5 billion deal with German passport printing firms Muehlbauer and Veridos to produce 6.4 million passports last July.
Under the agreement, Muehlbauer ID Services GmbH received a contract worth Rs 1.55 billion, while Veridos GmbH was awarded a contract worth Rs 6.11 billion.
However, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has already filed a corruption case at the Special Court against 18 people, including former DoP Director General Tirtha Raj Aryal, alleging irregularities in the procurement process.
Sources said the Prime Minister’s Secretariat became concerned after suspicions of irregularities in the bidding process and serious delays by the German company in printing passports.
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