Kathmandu, April 14 -- As many as 116 state bodies under various ministries bypassed the Public Procurement Act while buying construction materials and other logistical equipment worth over Rs2 billion by avoiding the tender process last fiscal year, according to the Office of the Auditor General.

A report by the Office of the Auditor General made public on Friday for the fiscal year 2017/18 said that the practice of procuring goods and services multiple times from a single firm without inviting open bids suggests non-compliance of regulations.

As per the provisions of Public Procurement Act (2007), state bodies are not allowed to downsize required goods so as to limit the competition among only a handful of firms.

However, the report ...