KATHMANDU, MAR 01 – Foreign employment agencies have disregarded the new provision that requires them to conduct all their financial transactions through banks.
Officials working at the frontline desk of the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) said none of the recruiting firms have complied to the new regulation introduced on January 16 to promote ethical and transparent recruitment practice as directed by the Parliamentary Committee on Labour and International Affairs.
According to the sources, State Minister Tek Bahadur Gurung and DoFE Director General Bharat Subedi are backing the recruiting firm in their non-compliance. It is said that Gurung had no intention of enforcing the regulation and that he only approved the provision to avoid the wrath of the parliamentary committee.
“Recruiting agencies have been using the same handwritten bill that was in use earlier. There has not been any specific direction what action to take against the agencies for not using the banking channel,” a DoFE official told the Post.
On January 20, DoFE had issued an ultimatum urging the agencies to implement the provision by February 5.
DoFE receives hundreds of fraud cases every month relating to financial exploitation of migrant workers from recruiting agencies, registered and unregistered agents. Over five hundreds cases involving fraud worth millions or rupee were registered last month alone.