Indian Railways may blacklist Oracle Corp if bribery claim proved

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in a September 27 order, slapped Oracle with a fine of $23 million for breaking the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that Indian Railway is investigating

Indian Railways might consider blacklisting Oracle Corp if an internal investigation into claims that the database software maker's Indian unit paid bribes to railway officials in 2019 is proved, reported Livemint citing two officials privy to the matter.
 

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in a September 27 order, slapped Oracle with a fine of $23 million for breaking the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The terms of reference of the internal investigation by the railways are intended to determine facts supporting that decision. 
 

Oracle Corp had allegedly bribed an employee of a transportation company majorly owned by the railway ministry. The railways will also investigate if such pay offs were also made earlier to secure contracts from state-owned enterprises.
 

One of the officials cited by Livemint claimed that the railway ministry contacted Oracle and SEC to learn more about the allegations of bribery and the involvement of the railway entity and its officials.
 

Once all the information is gathered and the railway inquiry identifies specific individuals and the involvement of any of its entities in the bribery scandal, charges will be brought against its officials, and Oracle India may be barred from bidding for future railway contracts and consequently from bidding on other Indian government contracts for a specific period.
 

According to the SEC order, Oracle is accused of setting up slush funds to pay off foreign officials in Turkey, India, and the United Arab Emirates. According to the report, Oracle channelled $400,000 into an Indian business with a history of paying officials of state-owned enterprises. The order also stated that Oracle sales representatives in India were instructed to keep a reserve of $67,000 in case they needed to pay a particular Indian official in 2019 to secure a railway contract.
 

The SEC order further added that a sales representative from Oracle India requested a 70 per cent discount on the software portion of a deal from a legitimate French official in January 2019, despite the fact that Oracle India had no competition in the deal because the railway company required the use of Oracle products for the project.