ECP still not ready to pay RTS dues to NADRA
November 13, 2020 01:22 PM
Two top institutions of the country – Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) – are still at loggerheads over the payment of dues concerning the RTS despite the passage of over two years, reported Zeeshan Ali Bhatti for 24NewsHD TV channel on Friday.
It was the July 25, 2018 general elections which propelled the RTS (Results Transmission System) – the electronic mechanism introduced for swift and uncontroversial transfer of data from polling stations – to headlines after it suddenly stopped working, making the entire process controversial.
Since then, the NADRA is unable to receive the payment of Rs130 million from the ECP, the authority responsible for holding elections in the country.
Documents show that the ECP did not release this amount after the RTS failure while the NADRA also had to suffer an additional loss of Rs3.5 million for developing the software.
Initially, the two entities had signed a deal for the RTS involving a total amount of Rs182.5 million but, the documents revealed, the actual cost on the project reached Rs186 million with the NADRA paying the additional money.
Later, the ECP had stopped disbursing the remaining amount after the RTS saga in the 2018 general elections.