Every road, bridge and public building in Nepal starts with a tender. The online system that handles those tenders was suspended over security risks, and a replacement is now being tested. The government says it is safer.
The system is the electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) portal. Government bodies use it to publish tenders, receive bids from companies and manage contract records.
The Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO) introduced it in December 2015 to improve transparency, efficiency, auditing and competition.
Why the old system was suspended
On September 16 2026, PPMO suspended the e-GP system, citing serious security risks and the need for maintenance and improvements.
A notice from the Pension Management Office said one tender would go ahead through hard-copy submission because of the suspension. On September 10, the Federation of Contractors’ Associations of Nepal (FCAN) called for the system to be restored safely and said paper bidding was not a long-term answer.
What is being tested now
On October 8, FCAN asked members to try a beta version of the new portal and give feedback on registration, login, published notices, bid submission and ease of use.
On October 17,Physical Infrastructure and Transport Minister Sunil Lamsal described a new bidding system with stronger security. The features are:
- Client-side encryption: bid details are scrambled on the bidder’s device before they are sent
- Multi-party encryption: opening a protected bid may need several authorised parties, not one person
- Two-factor authentication: a second identity check beyond a password
- Two-party approval: sensitive actions need two authorised people
- Audit trail: a record of who accessed or changed information, and when
- Protection against floods of traffic and bots
- Encrypted bid revisions: bidders can change a bid before the deadline while keeping it confidential
These are standard security controls. Having them does not prove the system is secure. That depends on how they are set up, how keys are managed, and whether independent testing is done.
Is it live? Is it AI?
Two points need care.
First, on October 18 the beta portal was reachable but showed zero open and zero published projects. That does not prove the system is down, but it means nobody should call it fully restored. PPMO should say whether this is a test, a staged rollout or the live national system.
Second, the report describes tools to flag suspected collusion, such as several bids from the same computer, to be added in a second phase. It does not clearly show that AI or machine learning is used. A system can flag such patterns with ordinary rules. So automated tools to flag suspected collusion is safer than AI will prevent collusion. Two bids from one computer are also not proof of wrongdoing, since firms can share an office or an internet connection. A flag should lead to an inquiry, not an automatic penalty.
What the system can and cannot do
Bid collusion means firms that should compete secretly coordinate, for example by agreeing who wins. Bid leaks matter because a rival who sees another firm’s price before opening can undercut it unfairly.
Encryption can lower the risk of leaks, but not remove it. Weak passwords, infected devices, insider access, software flaws and poor key management can still expose data. Designed to reduce the risk of leaks is supportable. A claim that leaks have ended for good is not.
Background: why procurement matters
Public procurement covers road building, bridges, public buildings and supplies paid for with public money. If the bidding system is unavailable or insecure, the effects reach beyond contractors to taxpayers and the delivery of projects.
