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The machines are currently stored at multiple locations, including 86,233 units at Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory (BTMF).

Asked whether the EC would pay the Tk 70.40 crore claimed by BMTF as warehouse rent for the machines, Masud said, “We don’t know about this [warehouse rent] at all. We haven’t received anything in writing. So, I doubt whether we will take responsibility for this. The possibility of not taking it is higher.”

BMTF had earlier written to the EC on December 15, asking it to clear the arrears and vacate the warehouse.

Masud said, “We’ll discuss these matters with the government. How we will dispose of them, or whether the EVMs can be used for any other purpose, the government may decide. The government can dispose of them, or it may ask us to do so, and we will, but we first have to fix a method for doing so.”

The EVM project ran for five years and was later extended by another year before expiring in June 2024.

Ahead of the 13th national election, the Electoral Reform Commission recommended against using EVMs. In August last year, the EC had proposed and later amended the Representation of the People Order to not use the machines in polls.

Md Abdul Alim, member of the now defunct Electoral Reform Commission, said EVMs had earlier proved flawed in counting votes.

“Many EVMs have already broken down and are lying unused. That is why moving forward with these machines is not logical…. These were purchased, used in elections, and are now lying idle…. This is a waste of public money. The election commission should quickly decide what to do with these.”