WB lifts four-year ban on Wipro

Wipro, India’s third-largest information technology (IT) services firm, is now eligible to participate in various World Bank projects; a four-year ban on the company in 2007 has expired. However, the company has to reapply to become a vendor of the bank, which will be decided based on the eligibility criteria and other norms.

“Wipro has served their full four-year sanction period (June 13, 2007, to June 12, 2011) for the sanctionable practice of providing improper benefits to the Bank staff,” an agency report said quoting a World Bank spokesperson from Washington.

The spokesperson said Wipro had not applied for vendor status with the Bank. “However, should they do so, the Bank's own vendor registration process will evaluate their eligibility with an appropriate level of diligence applied to the issue of governance,” he said.

To a query if Wipro is reapplying to World Bank to become a vendor, the company said, “We have always been confident of our business practices. We are happy to know we are eligible to do business with the World Bank.”

On June 13, the multinational lender had slapped a four-year ban on Wipro from doing business with the group under its corporate procurement programme for “providing improper benefits to the bank’s staff”.

In a statement issued at that time, Wipro had said the revenues it derived from the World Bank was insignificant ($1 million). “Our inability to get future business from the World Bank will not adversely affect our business and results of operations,” the company had sai then.

Other than Wipro, the World Bank had also barred Satyam Computer Services for “breach of confidentiality” for eight years starting December 22, 2008. Besides, the World Bank had also imposed a four-year ban on Megasoft Consultants for “setting up a joint venture in China with a former bank employee”.