It has been found that everything except the vehicle provided by the Nepal Rastra Bank 22 years ago to the then Governor Satyendra Pyara Shrestha and a decade and a half ago to take Tilak Rawal home after retirement is illegal. Such facilities provided after the issuance of Bank Act, 2058 are said to be illegal.
According to a bank operator when Shrestha was governor, the Bank Act 2058 has imposed a complete ban on such facilities. According to him, the entire process of purchasing the assets of bank has been made transparent and accountable as per the Public Procurement Act while providing autonomy to the bank as per the last Act.
He says that the clearing of its accounts will be done only through public auction. The operator said, “Ownership of the property purchased by inviting bids cannot be transferred by combining internal documents. That is against of law. Even the current vehicle facility is not provided by section 7 of the Bank Act.”
At present, the bank will buy a car worth RS 1.5 crore for the governor, RS 100 million for the deputies and RS 5.5 million for the executive by completing the purchase process. But after the office bearers and executives went home after their working life, the limit of the facility was increased in an unnatural way so that the name could be transferred in their name. According to a former governor, according to the Bank Act 2058, the central bank is fully governmental and the status of its employees is not governmental. The governor has been given facility of red passport while the deputy has to carry blue and other employees including the executive have to carry ordinary green passport.
The status of the bank is seen as governmental and the status of the employees as non-governmental as the annual income is also taken by the government of Nepal after deducting expenses as per the rules. Therefore, for the purpose of banking, except for those mentioned in the Act, employees and officials have to pay taxes and auction old property within the scope of prevailing rules and regulations. The bank cannot transfer ownership by decision.
He says, ‘Old papers computers and vehicles loaded with first class employees of the bank are auctioned off. However, the Bank Act 2058 and the Public Procurement Act 2063 have not envisaged that the vehicles of special and above employees will be registered in their name. If it is necessary to provide facilities, one-way vehicle is lent. But, those who take a car worth up to RS 15 million, like other employees, have already taken a car loan from the bank!’
A former executive director has said that some of the executive directors who took the facility vehicle after retiring from the bank in the last decade and a half have sold it at a higher price the next day. “Our friends were also selling the conditioned car at RS 5 to 7 lakh more than the purchase price at the bank’s expense, which is why it has become controversial now,” he said.
On the other hand, the old vehicles used by the bank must be auctioned according to the prevailing system. The auctioned vehicles cannot be registered at the transport offices in Lalitpur, Janakpur, Pokhara and Butwal. That is why most of the auctioned vehicles have been registered at the Birgunj-based transport office. It is said that transferring the name of vehicle to Lalitpur, Ekantakuna without auctioning any such vehicle provided to the officials and executives in the name of convenience is also a violation of the law of auctioning old vehicles at minimum price.
It is said that before the decision of the Board of Directors for the vehicle worth RS 130 million made last Chaitra, the management has proposed to deceive the operator as well. It has been decided to provide a four-week, i.e., 28 days daily travel allowance equivalent to a banquet on the day of the bank’s annual festival after they rejected the proposal to provide vehicle facility to the operator after the holidays. Accordingly, on Baishakh 14, the bank operators received a daily travel allowance of RS 84,000 at the rate of RS 3,000.
Similarly, the two operators have been using the bank’s vehicles as per the need for years but they have been using thousands of rupees monthly to show that they have used private vehicles. A senior bank source said, “It is a shame to take the driver’s monthly salary, fuel and maintenance expenses while using the bank’s vehicle.”
Meanwhile, the bank’s virtual management seminar held last Thursday and Friday also discussed 13 vehicles that the bank is said to have purchased at a rate of RS 5.5 million as per the Public Procurement Act. In the presence of governors, deputies and department heads, the issue of non-purchase of vehicles in excess of allocated budget as per the Public Procurement Act was raised. However, Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari is said to have defended the issue of buying expensive vehicles and transferring names in the name of concerned employees and officials without giving a direct answer. Quoting the official, the source said, “What did they get by giving and publishing that news?”
The Inland Revenue Office, Tangal, has said that it will look into the issue related to income tax even though it is not interested in the multi-crore vehicle facility to be provided by the bank but without following the auction process. Currently, the tax officer of the office in Lazimpat said, “we have to look at the percentage once and for all. But those who take such facilities have to pay income tax even considering the vehicle as income, we see.”
Meanwhile, the executive directors had added RS 325,000 per vehicle to 13 Hyundai Cretas worth RS 55 lakh which the bank had allegedly purchased. According to sources, 12 vehicles worth RS 58.25 lakh have been selected and vehicle worth RS 64 lakh have been selected for Naresh Shakya, Shakya has given RS 1 lakh to execution director of the general services department for the vehicle through a cheque of Machhapuchhre Bank.
However, the bank seems to have advanced the process of payment of RS 71.5 million by calculating the value of 13 vehicles at the rate of RS 5.5 million in internal records, details and comments. In practice, Hyundai will receive RS 76.3 million for all these vehicles. The amount has been collected from the concerned executive director by the head of the concerned department of the bank.
By Muna Chand, From Jana Aastha Weekly Online
