The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives has instructed the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority to conduct further investigation into the procurement process of Telecommunication Traffic Monitoring and Fraud Control System (Teramox) and proceed with the prosecution in accordance with the law.
Rishikesh Pokharel, the committee chair, also told CIAA to submit its progress reports to the committee every month.
The committee meeting held on Wednesday concluded that no policy decision has been made regarding the study proposal for Teramox procurement and instructed Nepal Telecommunication Authority to keep the entire process on hold. The parliamentary panel also said it was yet to get the original copy of the procurement contract.
Before issuing its decree, the committee had discussed the Teramox issue with officials of relevant agencies like NTA and Nepal Telecom.
After studying and analyzing the works done so far, the committee has come to the conclusion that the procurement process has flouted the relevant mandate of the Supreme Court, Pokharel said, summarizing the conclusion of the committee’s meeting.
Pokharel was referring to an SC order (vis-a-vis the use of a new technology) for the creation of a mechanism to make sure that the citizens’ right to privacy is not violated.
A committee member, Amresh Kumar Singh, argued that the decision to buy Teramox equipment from Lebanon was full of ill motives, whereas Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker Manish Jha said the purpose of the Teramox connection was not clear.
NTA had tried to purchase and use the Teramox technology to get details of illegal activities, to
improve the quality of telecommunication services and make them more credible.
NTA Chair Purushottam Khanal informed the committee that they have already paid 17.345 percent (Rs 520m) for Teramox procurement after opening an LC, while holding that the SC order needed upholding.
Khanal maintained that NTA’s move is in accordance with the Privacy Act, adding that they intend to use the technology to view overall call details instead of individual call details.
