CNS runs toll collection business with blessings from Anisul and Quader

Computer Network System Limited (CNS) was given the responsibility of providing technical assistance in toll collection at the Bangabandhu Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge for six months only. But they did not leave after the completion of the six months. Entering the contract for just six months, they collected tolls there for eight years.

The tactics CNS had used in keeping hold of the project was filing cases. Allegedly they held off on the appointment of a new contractor going to the court. And, the law minister of ousted Awami League government Anisul Huq used to influence the court so that the order goes in favour of CNS.

Ariful Huq, younger brother of the former law minister, Anisul Huq, was the chairman of CNS from between 2010 and 2017. He died in March 2017. According to sources, following the death of Ariful Huq, Anisul Huq himself controlled the business of CNS from behind the scene. However, he didn’t hold any post at the company.

Employing the strategy of filing cases, CNS managed the toll collection not only at the Jamuna Bridge but also at the Meghna-Gumti Bridge for seven years. Since 2018, they have been collecting tolls at Syed Nazrul Islam Bridge (Bhiarab) and Shahid Mayez Uddin Bridge (Ghorashal) as well.

CNS secured at least five types of projects from Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) in the last 12 years during the Awami League regime.  

Sources from the road transport and bridges ministry stated that the financial worth of projects secured by CNS under various departments of the ministry during the Awami League government’s rule goes over Tk 15 billion. CNS charged higher costs for the majority of these projects and made profit from that. On the contrary, the government counted losses.

Officials from concerning departments under the road transport and bridges ministry say just as there was the influence of former law minister Anisul Huq, there was also the blessings of former road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader behind CNS securing so many projects despite being an ordinary information technology (IT) company.

Obaidul Quader, Anisul Huq and the former prime minister’s private industries and investment adviser Salman F Rahman jointly used to control the government projects.

They were influential people in the government. Whenever there arose uncertainty over not securing a project in the competitive tender bidding process, Anisul Huq used to misuse the court to hold it off by filling cases.

Anisul Huq and Salman F Rahman have been arrested in murder cases and now are in prison and Obaidul Quader is in hiding. So, it wasn’t possible to get their comment on this.

Founder and managing director of CNS, Munir Uz Zaman, lives in Canada with his family. He has also launched the global branch of CNS there. His wife Selina Chowdhury is the current chairman of the company.

Munir Uz Zaman told Prothom Alo over the phone that Ariful Huq, brother to the former law minister, used to work at CNS.

He termed the claim of securing projects with the influence of the former law minister, Anisul Huq, as a propaganda.

They got work because of their experience, Munir Uz Zaman remarked.

However, several current officials of the road transport and bridges ministry raised the question on the intention of holding off the tender process if they had the capacity and experience.

The contract period of the toll collector on Jamuna bridge ended in 2016. Appointing the next contractor was time-consuming. That’s why the bridges division appointed CNS to provide technical assistance in toll collection for six months. And, the tender bidding process for appointing a permanent contractor started in the meantime.

Sources at the bridges division stated that such clauses were added to the open tender in 2017 that there was no scope for anyone else other than CNS to get the work. Other competing contractors objected to that. That is why the tender was canceled twice. The third time, five local and foreign companies including CNS submitted their tenders.

The joint venture (JV) company of South Korean HPC and Bangladeshi SEL scored the highest in that tender. They proposed to charge only 4.5 per cent of the total toll collection. Meanwhile, CNS’s proposal was for 12.5 per cent.

Realising that they wouldn’t get the contract, CNS filed a writ petition at the High Court bringing charges of lack of transparency in technical ability assessment. This held off the contractor appointment process. 

Amid this complication, the bridges division extended CNS’s contract of providing technical assistance for toll collection on Jamuna bridge for 10 more months without any tender. This way, the case kept stretching on and CNS kept extending their tenure. Then the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on 30 August 2022 dismissed the order of the High Court.

According to sources of the bridges division, after the legal obstacles were removed the bridges division started discussion with the lowest bidder from the tender call in 2017. However, they did not agree to do the project at the previous rates.

As a result, fresh calls were sent out for tenders. Then China Road and Bridge Corporation got the contract worth around Tk 600 million for the tenure of five years. The Chinese company took over from CNS on 1 September this year.

It shows that the annual expense on this Chinese company would be around Tk 120 million. The cost of software, machineries and staff is covered by them including the VAT and income tax.

Meanwhile, CNS used to take away Tk 50 million a year, just for providing software services. Other expenses including that of staff were covered by the bridges division.

Chief engineer at Bangladesh Bridges Division, Quazi Mohammad Ferdous told Prothom Alo that they could not appoint a new contractor for a long period because of the court case.

A company named, Asian Traffic Technologies (ATT), was in charge of collecting tolls on Meghna-Gumti bridge from 2010 to 2015. After their tenure had ended, the roads and highways department (RHD) called a new tender.

Then a company named Infratech was selected for three years. However, instead of giving the contract to them, the road transport ministry cancelled the tender. Infratech went to court and the appointment of a contractor was held off because of the case.

Then the RHD started collecting toll on Meghna-Gumti bridge on their own initiative from October 2015. CNS provided technical assistance there. Earlier, CNS had participated in the tender bidding but wasn’t the lowest bidder.

In February 2016, the RHD without even a tender process gave the responsibility of toll collection on Meghna-Gumti bridge for five years to CNS as the sole candidate. According to the contract, CNS used to get 17.75 per cent of the money collected as tolls. 

Such clauses were included in the contract that stated that the value added tax (VAT) for the collected toll and the income tax for CNS’s share in the toll would be paid by RHD. Counting in the VAT and the income tax, the total expense on the contractor reaches up to more than 24 per cent of the collected tolls.

The five year contract with CNS for toll collection on Meghna-Gumti bridge was supposed to be terminated on 30 September 2020. So, the RHD called for tender on 17 November 2019 to appoint a new contractor.

However, CNS went to the court against the tender procedure and was given a stay order from the High Court. Once the case was settled, the RHD appointed a new contractor in September 2022.

In the meantime, CNS had completed seven years of their service.

The toll collector on Meghna-Gumti bridge is not paid with shares in the total revenue anymore. The new contractor has been appointed on a three-year contract for Tk 660 million. That means the annual expenditure stands around Tk 220 million, but CNS used to get an average of Tk 770 million a year.

According to RHD sources, an axle load control station was installed on Meghna-Gumti bridge in 2017 to control overloaded vehicles. CNS was given the charge of collecting fines from overloaded vehicles as well. They were paid 14 per cent of the fine collected in total. CNS has earned about Tk 4.5 billion from the Meghna-Gumti bridge as their share of the toll and fine collected there.

Then in 2018, CNS got the responsibility of toll collection on Syed Nazrul Islam Bridge (Bhairab) and Shahid Mayez Uddin Bridge (Ghorashal) as well. They have earned 17.75 per cent of the toll collected there.

However, CAEC-ATT with the proposal of charging 7.7 per cent of the toll collected on Nazrul Islam Bridge and MM Builders proposing to charge 8 per cent of the toll collected on Shahid Mayez Uddin Bridge had become the lowest bidder in the tender. Yet, the work was given to CNS as they fared better in technical assessment.

Despite CNS’s contract being expired, no new contractor was appointed. Instead, CNS was reappointed on 29 September this year to collect toll for three more years from Syed Nazrul Islam Bridge and for two years from Shahid Mayez Uddin Bridge.

A contract of Tk 420 million has been signed with CNS in this regard. This time they are getting 16.45 per cent of the collected toll, sources from the RHD stated.

When asked about it, chief engineer of the RHD, Syed Moinul Hasan, told Prothom Alo that he will talk about this matter later when he has gathered all the information.

Sources from the RHD stated that the quality and cost based service (QCBS) method is followed to call for tenders in collecting toll from bridges. In this process, such clauses are included in the tender first so that other candidates except for the contractor of their choice score low.

Then the financial proposal and the technical proposal are evaluated together to appoint the contractor. In this way, CNS gets the contract despite proposing higher prices.

Officials concerned say that CNS has earned more than Tk 3 billion from collecting tolls from Nazrul Islam Bridge and Shahid Mayez Uddin Bridge. If open tenders are called without any bias, tolls can be collected for a cost way less than the current expenditure.

CNS got contracts for five projects at the BRTA. The projects are - a. motor vehicle tax and fees collection; b. running fitness test of vehicles; c. management of the integrated system (IS) for online communication among BRTA offices; d. management of BRTA service portal; and e. digital storage of documents.

BRTA sources say that the worth of CNS’s ongoing and completed projects in terms of money goes over Tk 8 billion. Such conditions are included in the bidding process of these projects that can be fulfilled by CNS only.

Besides, there are incidents of extending the contract period repeatedly once the work is secured. In some cases, CNS has been entrusted with projects without even any tender.

BRTA director (engineer) Shitangshu Shekhar Biswas has been overseeing the agency’s tender procedure for over a decade now. He was the one completing all the procedures, from drawing up clauses of the tender bidding to carrying out the assessment.

Shitangshu Shekhar claimed to Prothom Alo that there are some standards of qualification required for projects of information technology. The claim of adding conditions in favour of CNS is false. CNS got the projects owing to their own competency.

With the assistance of South Korea, a Vehicle Inspection Centre (VIC) has been launched in Mirpur for running vehicle fitness tests automatically.

BRTA appointed CNS for the capacity enhancement, installation of machineries and overall management of the centre on 10 November 2023 for a contract of Tk 1.05 billion. While South Korea showed interest in this project BRTA didn’t respond, said sources from the agency.

When told about the procedure of CNS securing projects and their “case filing tactics”, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) executive director Iftekharuzzaman told Prothom Alo that multi-layered corruption, political influence and conflict of interest have been at play here.

Such corruption and irregularities under the influence of former ministers or politicians had turned into a normal practice during the Awami League government. If there wasn’t collusion of bureaucrats behind this, it would not have gone to such lengths, he added.

So, alongside the politicians, respective bureaucrats have to be held accountable as well.

Calling this term of the interim government as an opportunity, Iftekharuzzaman said, now the people responsible need to be brought to book by conducting independent investigation of these irregularities and corruption.

A standard has to be set for the future. If it failed this time it would never be possible again, he remarked.

* This report appeared in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Nourin Ahmed Monisha.