Nepal Tax Stamp Provider Fails to Sign Contract

The Indonesian company Perum Peruri, which was selected in March to supply tobacco and alcohol tax stamps to Nepal’s Inland Revenue Department (IRD), has failed to show up for the signing of the contract for the stamps, reports The Kathmandu Post. This situation is made all the more strange considering Perum Peruri’s longstanding relationship with the department.

‘The Indonesian company has failed to show up to sign the contract,’ declared Thaneshwor Gautam, IRD Deputy Director General. ‘So we have confiscated the company’s performance bonds and are initiating legal action against the company.’

To complicate matters further, the government has decided not to award the contract to the second-ranked bidder (due to alleged technical issues with its bid), and nor can it start the bidding process afresh.

The second-ranked bidder is duly challenging this decision at the supreme court. ‘We are in the process of responding to the court,’ said an IRD official. ‘Until the court clears this legal challenge, we cannot issue fresh bids for the excise stickers.’