The World Bank debarred an Indian waste management and environmental services company Wednesday for one year and eight months for a fraudulent practice connected to a project in India.
Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited (REEL), and its managing director, M. Goutham Reddy, are ineligible to participate in projects and operations financed by the World Bank Group during the 20-month debarment.
According to the World Bank, REEL and Reddy failed to disclose a subcontractor when bidding for a contract. REEL also failed to obtain prior approval before subcontracting works under the contract and misrepresented the existence of this subcontracting arrangement. This constitutes a fraudulent practice under the World Bank’s Procurement Guidelines.
The $65 million World Bank-funded project was designed to strengthen the capacity of selected state pollution control agencies in the remediation of polluted sites and support the development of a framework to establish a national program in Indian for the remediation of polluted sites.
As part of the settlement, REEL and Reddy did not contest responsibility for the underlying sanctionable practices and agreed to meet specified corporate compliance conditions as a condition for release from debarment, the World Bank said.
According to the World Bank, the settlement agreement provides a reduced period of debarment for the company’s cooperation, voluntary restraint, and voluntary remedial actions, including revisions to REEL’s integrity compliance program.
REEL also agreed to develop and implement an integrity compliance program reflecting the principles set out in the World Bank Group Integrity Compliance Guidelines and to continue cooperating with the World Bank Group Integrity Vice Presidency.
The debarment qualifies for cross-debarment by the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the African Development Bank.
A list of all World Bank debarred entities and individuals is here.
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