NIC smart card white- collar scam exposed
In what appears to be a major white collar scam, top officials have been found to have misled the Cabinet of Ministers by submitting a false report for the procurement of one million pre-printed smart cards to the Department of Registration of Persons with the aim of siphoning off around Rs. 60 million, an official report revealed.
The Ministry of Internal and Home Affairs and Provincial Councils and Local Government has called quotations from Just in Time Technologies Pvt Ltd, pre-supplier as a re-order to purchase one million pre-printed smart cards.
The company has quoted a price of Rs. 185 per card at first and later agreed to supply cards at a price of Rs. 171.50 per card.
According to official documents, this company had earlier supplied 500,000 cards for the initial procurement order at a price of Rs. 124 per card and again it has supplied 250,000 more cards as a re-order at the same price.
The Cabinet appointed committee to examine the price proposal has recommended that the ministry should not procure smart cards from Just in Time Technologies at a very high price of Rs 185 per card since the same company previously supplied it at a price of Rs. 124 per card.
Making observations to the Cabinet memorandum of the ministry relating to this present procurement of smart cards, the Finance Ministry has recommended the Secretary to the Ministry of Internal and Home Affairs to reconsider the deal prior to awarding the contract to the current supplier.
The Finance Ministry has informed the Secretary to the Ministry of Internal and Home Affairs to examine whether there are any other bidders in the most recently awarded tender with prior experience who can supply pre-printed cards within stipulated period at a much lower price.
In consideration of foregoing facts, what the Commissioner General of Department of Registration of Persons or the Ministry Secretary should have done was to call the previous supplier of smart cards and inquire their price and time period required to make the supply, the report said.
This supplier was the very first company which has supplied pre-printed cards for the national identity cards at a price of Rs 71 per card, official documents revealed.
It was the lowest technically qualified bidder who quoted a price of Rs. 69 per card in the latest tender which is being unnecessarily delayed by ministry top officials without awarding it to this supplier.
Under these circumstances, Minister Mangala Samaraweera in his observations in writing to the Cabinet said that prolonged delays in finalising the ongoing tender has so far resulted in procuring printed cards at higher prices when relatively lower prices have been quoted by several bidders.
As such delay in the procurement process has caused millions of rupees loss to the treasury, the Finance Minister pointed out adding that responsible officials should take prompt action to finalise the ongoing tender without further delay.
The Commissioner General of the Department of Registration of Persons in his report to the Ministry of Internal and Home Affairs said that the previous supplier who was among the bidders of ongoing tender has quoted a price of Rs.155 per card when the rate of the dollar was Rs.156.
Their price may have been increased to Rs. 177 per card if he has to quote the price when the dollar was at Rs. 179 at present, he assumed stating that ‘Just in Technologies’ has quoted price of Rs. 171.50 per card, Rs. 5.50 less than the previous supplier
This top official has made his own assumption without calling a price proposal from the previous supplier totally ignoring the Finance Ministry directive, official sources said
He added that the previous supplier in a letter to the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and the Bribery Commission assured that he is ready to supply the preprinted smart cards at a price of Rs.120 per card to meet the current urgent need.