GFR PROCUREMENT OF GOODS AND SERVICES As per GFRs-2017, the following provisions have been laid down in GFR-142 to GFR-206 for purchase of Goods and Services by the Govt. for use in their Departments/ Of
GFR PROCUREMENT OF GOODS AND SERVICES | DEFINITION OF GOODS| GEM
DEFINITION OF GOODS
As per GFRs-2017, the following provisions have been laid down in GFR-142 to GFR-206 for purchase of Goods and Services by the Govt. for use in their Departments/ Offices:-
Definition of Goods
The term ‘goods’ includes all articles, material, commodity, livestock, furniture, fixtures, stationery, medicines, Instruments, machinery, equipment, industrial plant, vehicles, aircraft, ships, railway rolling stock, assemblies, spares, accessories, intangible products like software, technology transfer, licenses, patents or other intellectual properties to be purchased. The term ‘goods’ also includes transportation, installation, training and maintenance in respect of those goods already purchased. But the term ‘goods’ excludes books, publications, periodicals, etc. required in Library.
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| GFR PROCUREMENT OF GOODS AND SERVICES |
(GFR-143)
GOVERNMENT E-MARKET PLACE (GeM)
GeM is a portal which has been developed by GOI for online purchase of common use Goods and Services through it. The procurement of those Goods and services through GeM will be mandatory by all Govt. Deptts. which are available on GeM. The Departments shall utilize the GeM portal for direct online purchases, meeting requisite quality, specification and delivery period, as under:
- a)Upto Rs 25000/- through any of the available suppliers on GeM.
- b)Above Rs 25000/- and upto Rs 5,00,000/- having the lowest price amongst available sellers (excluding Automobiles where limit of Rs 30 lakh continue) of at least three different manufacturers on GeM. Tools for online bidding available on GeM can be used by the Deptt. even if procurement is less than Rs 5 lakh.
- c)Above Rs 5,00,000/- through the supplier having lowest price after mandatorily obtaining bids using online bidding or reverse auction tool provided on GeM. In case of Automobiles, limit of Rs 30 lakh will continue.
- d)The above mentioned ceiling is applicable only for purchases made through GeM.
- e) The Govt. Deptt.may ascertain the reasonableness of prices before placement of order using the Business Analytics tools on GeM and Last Purchase Price on GeM and Department’s own.
(GFR-149)
Purchase of Goods without Quotation
Purchase of goods upto Rs. 25000/- on each occasion may be made without quotation on the basis of the following certificate to be recorded by the competent authority.
“I am personally satisfied that these goods purchased are of the requisite quality and specification and have been purchased from a reliable supplier at a reasonable price.”
(GFR-154)
Purchase of Goods by Purchase Committee
In case a certain item is not available on GeM, purchase of goods costing above Rs.25000/- and upto Rs.2,50,000/- on each occasion may be made on the recommendations of a duly constituted Local Purchase Committee consists of three members of appropriate level as decided by the Head of Deptt. The committee will survey the market and record the following certificate before placement of purchase order.
“Certified that we, members of the purchase committee are jointly and individually satisfied that the goods recommended for purchase are of the requisite specification and quality, priced at the prevailing market rate and the supplier recommended is reliable and competent to supply the goods in question and it is not debarred by Deptt. of Commerce or Ministry/Deptt. concerned.”
(GFR-155)
Purchase of Goods directly under Rate Contract
The DGS&D was closed on 31.10.2017 and all departments and suppliers were re-directed to GeM for all procurement activities. The provisions for purchase of Goods through DGS&D don't exist anymore.
Rules 148, 156, 159(iv), 160(iii), 173(xv) of GFRs-2017 related to Rate Contract has been deleted and the name of DGS&D has been replaced by GeM vide GOI, Min. of Finance OM dated 2.4.2019.
E-Publishing
It is mandatory for all Govt. Departments and Autonomous/Statutory Bodies to publish their tender enquiries, corrigendum thereon and details of bids awards on the Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) and their own websites. These instructions do not apply for purchase made under GFR-154 and 155. Individual cases where confidentiality is required for national security would be exempted from the mandatory E-publishing requirement.
(GFR-159)
E-Procurement
It is mandatory for all Departments to receive all bids in respect of all procurements online through E-Procurement Portals. For this purpose, e-procurement solution developed by NIC may be used by the departments which don't have a large volume of procurement and also have not initiated e-procurement through any other solutions provided so far. Individual cases where national security demands confidentiality may be exempted from e-procurement after seeking approval of the concerned Secretary with concurrence of FA.
(GFR-160)
Advertised Tender Enquiry
- a)Subject to exceptions incorporated in GFR-154, 155, 162 and 166, tenders should be invited by advertisements for procurement of goods of estimated value of Rs. 25.00 lakh and above. Advertisement in such cases should be given on CPPP (at eprocure.gov.in), GeM and also on the website of the concerned Department.
- b)Complete bidding documents should be posted by the Deptt. on CPPP and on its own website to enable prospective bidders to download the same for bidding free of cost.
- c)Ordinarily, the minimum time of three weeks should be allowed for submission of bids from the date of publication of NIT or availability of bidding document for sale whichever is later.
(GFR-161)
Limited Tender Enquiry
- a)This method may be adopted when the purchase value is upto Rs. 25.00 lakh. Limited tender enquiries should be published on CPPP and own website of the concerned Deptt. Copies of bidding documents should be sent by speed post/registered post/courier/email to more than three suppliers firms.
- b)The unsolicited bids should not be accepted.
- c)LTE may be adopted even when the procurement is involved of more than Rs. 25.00 lakh, if – i) Demand is urgent , ii) Advertised tender enquiry is not in public interest and iii) Sources of supply are definitely known. In such cases sufficient reasons should be given in writing.
(GFR-162)
1- Single Tender Enquiry
2- Two Bid System
Single Tender Enquiry
This method is adopted in urgent cases or for purchase of proprietary articles.
(GFR-166)
- Two Bid System
- a)Technical Bid consists of all technical details alongwith commercial terms and conditions.
- b)Financial Bid indicates the itemwise price. It is opened of those bidders who are first evaluated and found technically qualified.
(GFR-163)
Contents of Bidding Documents
All terms, conditions, stipulations and information to be incorporated in the bidding document are to be mentioned in the following chapters/annexures:
1) Instructions to Bidders.
2) Conditions of Contract.
3) Schedule of Requirements.
4) Specifications and allied Technical Details.
5) Price Schedule to be utilised by bidders for quoting rates.
6) Contract Form.
7) Other Standard Forms, if any.
(GFR-168)
Bid Security
- a)To safeguard against a bidder’s withdrawing or altering its bids during the bid validity period in the case of advertised or limited tender enquiry, Bid Security (EMD) is to be obtained from the bidders.
- b)Bid security should range between 2% to 5% of the estimated cost of purchase.
- c)It may be accepted in the form of Demand Draft, Fixed Deposit Receipt, and Bank Guarantee from any Commercial Bank or online payment.
- d)Its validity period is 45 days beyond the final bid validity period.
- e)Bid security should be returned to unsuccessful bidders at the earliest after expiry of the final bid validity and latest on or before the 30th day after award of contract.
- f)In place of a Bid security/EMD, the Departments may require bidders to sign a Bid Securing Declaration regarding if they withdraw or modify their bids during its validity or if they fail to sign the contract or in submitting Performance Security, they will be suspended to participate in the bidding for a period specified in the bidding document.
(GFR-170)
Performance Security
- a)To ensure due performance of the contract, Performance Security is to be obtained from the successful bidder awarded the contract.
- b)Performance Security will be 5% to 10% of the value of contract in the form of Demand Draft, Fixed Deposit Receipt, and Bank Guarantee from a Commercial Bank or online payment.
- c)It should remain valid for a period of 60 days beyond the date of completion of all contractual obligations including warranty obligation.
(GFR-171)
Transparency, Fairness and Competition – Fundamental Principles of Govt. Purchase (1/4)
- a)Transparency: Must be maintained during the whole process of procurement.
- b)Fairness: Be fair and neutral and equitable treatment should be given to all suppliers.
- c)Competition: Competition must be promoted in the public procurement.
To ensure the above and to secure the best value for Govt. money, some of the measures are as follows:
- The text of the bidding documents should be self-contained, comprehensive and in simple language without any ambiguities.
- The minimum level of experience, past performance, technical capability, manufacturing facilities and financial position should be required so that maximum bidders may participate in the procurement process.
- The procedure as well as date, time and place for sending and opening of the bid should clearly be mentioned in bidding documents.
- A clause should be included in the Bidding Document that “if a firm quotes NIL rates/charges, the bid shall be treated as unresponsive and will not be considered.”
Transparency, Fairness and Competition – Fundamental Principles of Govt. Purchase (2/4)
- Provision should be kept in bidding documents to enable bidder to question the bidding conditions, process and/or rejection of its bid.
- Criteria for determining responsiveness are to be taken into account for evaluating the bids such as time of delivery, performance/efficiency/environmental characteristics, terms of payment and of guarantees, price and cost of operating, maintaining and repairing, etc.
- Negotiation after bid opening must be severely discouraged. However, in exceptional circumstances, where price negotiation against ad-hoc procurement is necessary due to some unavoidable circumstances, the same may be resorted to only with lowest evaluated (L-1) bidder.
- Contract should be awarded to the L-1 bidder. However, where L-1 bidder against ad-hoc requirement is not in a position to supply the full quantity required, the remaining quantity, as far as possible, be ordered to L-2 bidder at the rates offered by L-1 bidder.
- Bids received should be evaluated in terms and conditions already incorporated in the bidding document and no new condition should be brought in for evaluation of the bids.
Transparency, Fairness and Competition – Fundamental Principles of Govt. Purchase (3/4)
- Rejection of all Bids justified when -
- a)Effective competition is lacking.
b)All Bids and proposals are not responsive to the requirements of the procurement documents.
c)The Bids’/proposals’ prices are substantially higher than the updated cost estimate or available budget.
- d)None of the technical bids meets the minimum technical qualifying score.
- Lack in competition shall not be determined solely on the basis of the number of Bidders. Even when only one Bid is submitted, the process may be considered valid provided following conditions are satisfied –
- a) The procurement was satisfactorily advertised and sufficient time was given for submission of bids.
- b) The qualification criteria were not unduly restrictive.
- c) Prices are reasonable in comparison to market rates.
- When a Limited or Open tender results in only one effective offer, it shall be treated as a Single tender contract.
Transparency, Fairness and Competition – Fundamental Principles of Govt. Purchase (4/4)
- No member of the Purchase Committee should be reporting directly to any other member of such Committee in case estimated value of procurement exceeds Rs, 25.00 lakh.
- Requirement of goods should not be for a particular trade mark, trade name or trade brand. Only specification as per actual requirement should be given.
- The specification and quality of goods should be clearly spelt out as per the basic needs of the Deptt. Superfluous and non-essential features should be avoided.
- Purchase of goods in excess quantity should be avoided.
- A complete schedule of procurement cycle should be published when the tender is issued.
- Annual Procurement Plan before the start of the year should be prepared and placed on their website.
(GFR- 144 & 173)
Buy-Back Offer
When it is decided to replace an existing old item(s) with a new and better version, the Department may trade the old item while purchasing the new one. For this purpose, a suitable clause is to be incorporated in the bidding documents so that the prospective and interested bidders formulate their bids accordingly.
(GFR-176)
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