Daily Mirror report on e-passport contract draws Govt. attention

Colombo, May 6 (Daily Mirror) - Following the article titled “Poland to complain to EU over alleged fraud in Sri Lanka’s e-passport personalization tender procedure” published exclusively in the Daily Mirror on Monday, May 4th, Immigration Chief Chaminda Pathiraja, in a letter to the Media Secretary of the Ministry of Public Security has informed that the Cabinet of Ministers has made a request to the Procurement Commission to submit its opinion regarding the award of the personalization of e-passport contract which it is learnt will be awarded to Thales Finland.

In the letter, the Immigration Chief has issued a formal clarification regarding the procurement of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) components necessary for the personalization e-passports.

According to the letter, the procurement process began following a Cabinet decision on July 29, 2024, which mandated an open competitive bidding method for the e-passport infrastructure.

The letter stated that bidding officially opened on April 27, 2025, attracting eight major international and local bidders; Tahaluf Al Emarat Technical Solution and VSIS; United Printing & Publishing (E7) / Toppan Forms (Colombo) Ltd; Madras Security Printers Pvt Ltd / Blue Chip Technical Services (Pvt) Ltd; IN Continu ET Service S.A.S (IN Group) / Epic Lanka (Pvt) Ltd; Veridos GMBH / Informatics (Pvt) Ltd; IRIS Corporation Berhad / Hayleys Fenton Limited; PWPW S.A / South Asian Technologies (Pvt) Ltd and Thales DIS Finland Oy / Just in Time Technologies.

"Following the completion of technical evaluations in August 2025, the financial bid of the lowest technically qualified bidder was opened on September 11, 2025.

After selection by the Bid Evaluation Committee and approval from the High-Level Procurement Committee, Letters of Intent to award the contract were issued to bidders on December 4, 2025.

However, the process came under scrutiny when four unsuccessful bidders filed appeals with the Procurement Appeal Board (PAB) on January 2, 2026. These appeals were heard on January 6, 2026, resulting in a set of recommendations that are currently under review.

The Cabinet of Ministers was subsequently informed of both the Procurement Appeal Board’s decision and the Bid Evaluation Committee’s determination, in line with Section 8.5 of the Procurement Guidelines. The Cabinet has since requested the Procurement Commission to submit its opinion on the proposed contract award," the letter further stated.

The Controller General said that under Government Procurement Guidelines, it is not permissible to hold specific discussions with a single bidder during the procurement process.

Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry sources said that a letter received from one of the bidders, as quoted in the Daily Mirror article, has been referred to the relevant local authority.

It was also clarified that awarding of tenders is subject to national procurement guidelines, and the Ministry does not intervene in the matters of this nature, which are outside of its purview.

It is further understood that this position has been conveyed to the Polish officials at a recent meeting held at the Foreign Ministry.

Responding to a query on the matter, Cabinet Spokesperson Nalinda Jayatissa said the tender has not yet been awarded.

“There is an issue here. It is up to the Procurement Committee to decide who is eligible for the contract. No final decision has been taken,” he said.