Kathmandu: The Department of Passports (DoP) under Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has invited two German firms, Veridos GmbH and Mühlbauer ID Service, to sign a new contract for printing and supplying 6.4 million biometric (e-)passports, marking a significant shift from its longstanding partnership with French supplier IDEMIA.

Following clearance from the Public Procurement Review Committee (PPRC), the department issued Notifications of Letter of Acceptance on Tuesday and has given the companies 15 days to sign the agreement.

The new arrangement ends IDEMIA’s decade-long dominance in Nepal’s passport system, during which it supplied more than 10.53 million passports since 2010. IDEMIA, which had filed a complaint challenging the department’s decision, saw its claims rejected by the PPRC, clearing the way for the new vendors.

The contract was split into two packages:

• Package One (System and Data Management): Awarded to Mühlbauer
• Package Two (Booklet Supply and Personalization): Awarded to Veridos

This separation is a departure from the earlier all-in-one approach handled solely by IDEMIA, which previously managed everything from pre-enrolment to packaging.

With current passport stock dropping below 400,000 units and monthly demand at around 100,000 passports, the department faces a short-term supply crunch. The new vendors have eight months to begin delivery, and in the interim, the DoP may need to procure additional passports from IDEMIA under a variation order, subject to Cabinet approval.

Five international firms had initially submitted bids for this multi-billion-rupee contract. With the selection dispute now resolved, the focus shifts to ensuring a smooth transition and timely delivery of passports to meet national demand.

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