TE24 National Desk:
The National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom has found no corruption in the National Identity (NID) Card project of Bangladesh after thorough investigation for long six years.
It thought of the exposure wrapping up its test into the defilement charge brought by the World Bank.
Following six years of examination, which included survey of millions of paper-based and electronic reports, messages, communicators’ messages and other insightful sources, the UK organization has at last chosen to give a No Further Action (NFA) and close the case as it has not seen as any confirmation of debasement in the venture.
TigerIT Bangladesh Ltd, a Bangladeshi programming organization, made a public biometric information base in 2007 for 80 million residents of Bangladesh to involve it in the accompanying decisions.
This was done under the management of Bangladesh Army and utilizing this data set, the primary NID cards were given for Bangladeshi residents in 2008.
This was a notable venture when the country was at disequilibrium and was holding back to introduce another period of administration. It was additionally profoundly adulated by the accomplices of the activities – – DFID, UNDP and EU.
After the incredible progress of the NID Project in 2008, the World Bank in 2011 offered Bangladesh a credit to fund the substitution of paper-based NID cards with the brilliant ones.
In this manner, the Election Commission welcomed a global delicate in 2014. Every one of the particulars as well as delicate outcomes were evaluated and endorsed by the WB’s division worried in Washington following which the delicate was granted to a French organization called Oberthur Technologies.
In addition, while assessing the venture, the worldwide loan specialist was exceptionally happy with its encouraging and specialized sufficiency. Providing the least cost estimate, this unfamiliar organization beat different competitors and won the delicate in January 2015.
Oberthur Technologies chose TigerIT as its subcontractor for committed programming supply while one more nearby IT organization called CSL filled in as its neighborhood specialist.
The second most minimal bidder was an organization called Saffran Morpho which, it is to be noted, later converged with Oberthur Technologies to be known as IDEMIA.
Oberthur’s collusion with TigerIT was the vital variable in their triumphant the bid as TigerIT’s interest helped the new NID framework to be planned utilizing the current foundation, helping essentially conserve and the nation make impressive monetary reserve funds on that record.
The public brilliant ID card itself is, till date, the least expensive ever polycarbonate savvy ID card on the planet. To support this case, the accompanying correlations can do the trick: one savvy ID card in Bangladesh was presented for around US$1.03 (with personalisation before customs obligations, VAT and different charges) while Pakistan pays $1.69 per unit, Peru $1.52, Guatemala $1.60 and Chad burns through $1.91 for such polycarbonate brilliant ID card – – every one of these without personalisation which, as a guideline, is no less than $0.50 per unit.
As confirmed above, Bangladesh gave public savvy cards at an expense under 70% regarding worldwide use. The EC had the option to arrange 100 million units (according to the quantity of grown-up residents of Bangladesh around then) surpassing the assessed focus of 80 million with the apportioned financial plan.
Soon after winning the undertaking and using TigerIT’s information on the Bangladesh NID framework, Oberthur (presently known as IDEMIA after the consolidation with Saffran Morpho) chose to decisively limit the job of the subcontractor (TigerIT) and ultimately, dropped it altogether from the task to annihilate and obliterate a contender from the worldwide market and expand its own benefit.
To accomplish this, as an initial step, every one of the installments because of TigerIT (for currently conveyed parts) were held back. Subsequent to settling on a few pointless decisions to look for the contribution, TigerIT moved the Bangladesh High Court looking for equity.
Being ineffective in Bangladesh, Oberthur took it to a UK court, mentioning it to give a quick order that would constrain TigerIT to stop the case in Bangladesh.
TigerIT won the case in the UK in 2019, however was taken out from the task by IDEMIA.
TigerIT was not by any means the only Bangladeshi organization which experienced attributable to the control of IDEMIA. Subsequent to throwing out TigerIT, IDEMIA likewise eliminated its nearby specialist CSL from the undertaking by its country chief Brig Gen (retd) Saifur Rahman who is the sibling of then individual from leader board of BNP Mohammad Shokrana.
Shokrana was additionally known to have extremely close binds with Tarique Rahman. The results of utilizing resistance pioneers in the task, which includes public safety, were clear in what occurred straightaway. Lined up with the questions with its subcontractor and nearby accomplice, IDEMIA and the task became subjects of a World Bank examination, warned by IDEMIA itself.
Not long after the delicate was granted, Morpho had stopped an objection with BEC against Oberthur before the consolidation of the two organizations, bringing two inconsistent claims: one about the cost presented by Oberthur being ‘preposterously low’ and the other mentioning an investigation into likely defilement in the task.
Thus, the World Bank reviewed the undertaking and during the review, Oberthur expressed that it made ‘ill-advised installments to a subcontractor (… ) to get and alter bid particulars to limit the opposition and secure the honor of the agreement.
Simultaneously, IDEMIA dishonestly educated the World Bank that TigerIT was helping it ‘tight the opposition.’
One more claim was connected with the ascent in the quantity of cards from 80 million to 100 million.
How much defilement cash asserted by World Bank was significantly more than the benefit of the additional 20 million cards-further avowed by the NCA, subsequently demonstrating the claim ridiculous.
After not having the option to demonstrate for certain any defilement accusation in the venture, the World Bank had moved the case to the NCA, comparable to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the US, for additional examination.
Simultaneously, the World Bank banned TigerIT for a considerable length of time and a half year from taking part in any undertaking financed by it at both public and worldwide levels dependent exclusively upon Oberthur’s own assertions without sitting tight for the result of the UK examination.
At long last, the UK organization has tracked down no proof of debasement in the task.
This has shaken TigerIT as an arising ID arrangement supplier harshly.
At that point, they had won a few worldwide undertakings in various nations and laid down a good foundation for itself as a solid contender among worldwide players. In that capacity, the valuation of Morpho, Oberthur and other significant ID arrangement suppliers diminished essentially because of the lower cost presented by TigerIT. Therefore, a few consolidations and acquisitions of ID arrangement suppliers occurred around then.
A solid source said in or after 2020, IDEMIA covertly settled with TigerIT and CSL by paying them multimillion dollars as remuneration for disposing of them from the task.
TigerIT has wouldn’t remark on the issue.
This is another WB-financed project where the picture of government and neighborhood organizations has been discolored.
Shockingly, when neighborhood organization TigerIT is experiencing for being banned the WB-subsidized projects, which actually implies expulsion from the worldwide personality market, IDEMIA is declaring its valuation development, which has significantly increased beginning around 2015, when it won the Bangladesh NID project.
