Kathmandu, July 14: The Government has reinstated Sangita Pahadi Aryal as the Managing Director of Nepal Telecom, the largest telecom operator in Nepal, after she was fully acquitted of all charges by the Special Court.
According to a statement issued by Kamal Lamichhane, Spokesperson at Nepal Telecom, Pahadi’s suspension was lifted following a ministerial decision by the Ministry of Communications and Information on Asar 26, 2083. She officially resumed her duties as the company’s Managing Director thereafter.
Addressing employees during the reinstatement ceremony, Pahadi urged staff to continue working with integrity and dedication in the best interests of both the institution and the country, saying there should be no fear in performing their responsibilities honestly.
She said that the allegations and misconceptions surrounding the case had now been cleared and that the truth had ultimately prevailed. Pahadi also expressed her gratitude to the entire Nepal Telecom team for providing effective leadership and support during her absence.
Highlighting the need for procedural reforms within the company, she said Nepal Telecom would continue improving its internal systems while also taking into account external perspectives and stakeholder expectations.
She reaffirmed the company’s commitment to working in line with the policies and guidance of the Government of Nepal, strengthening public trust and Nepal Telecom’s market reputation, and making its services more customer-friendly.
What was the case?
Special Court acquitted 18 former officials of Nepal Telecom, including former Managing Directors Sunil Paudel and Sangita Pahadi, in a corruption case related to the company’s billing system upgrade project.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had accused the officials of causing a loss of approximately Rs. 335 million to the state by making excessive payments to a contractor in violation of the terms of the procurement contract. The verdict was delivered on Wednesday by a bench comprising Judges Narayan Prasad Paudel and Bidur Koirala, who cleared all 18 defendants of the corruption charges.
The case stemmed from a contract signed on Poush 6, 2068 BS between Nepal Telecom and Asian Info Linkage Technologies Inc. of China for the upgrade of Nepal Telecom’s billing system.
Under the agreement, Nepal Telecom launched the procurement of a Convergent Real-Time Billing and Customer Support (CRTB & CS) system. The project aimed to integrate the company’s various telecommunications services—including GSM mobile, fibre, internet, leased line, wireline and wireless broadband—into a single electronic billing platform capable of calculating and updating customer charges in real time.
According to the original contract, Nepal Telecom could procure an Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) for up to six years after the issuance of a Warranty Completion Certificate. The agreement also stipulated that AMC payments would be made on a declining annual rate of five percent.
However, the CIAA alleged that instead of applying the annual five-percent discount, Nepal Telecom officials approved a lump-sum procurement covering five years of AMC services (structured as four plus one years), resulting in financial losses to the government.
Based on this allegation, the anti-graft body filed corruption charges against officials involved in the procurement and payment process, including then Managing Director Sunil Paudel, then Chief Commercial Officer Sangita Pahadi, former Chief Technical Officer Pratibha Vaidya, and other senior officials. #nepal
