DRAFT MANUAL ON POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR PROCUREMENT IN EGOVERNANCEmeity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/Draft_Manual_On_Policies_And... · Projects funded partially or in whole by

DRAFT MANUAL ON POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR PROCUREMENT IN

EGOVERNANCE 2016

Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY)

Government of India

6, CGO Complex, Delhi

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Manual on Policies and Procedures for Procurement in eGovernance

List of Abbreviations

A&M Approach & Methodology

A/T Acceptance of Tender

AMC Annual Maintenance Contract

ATS Annual Technical Support

BG Bank Guarantee

CCN Change Control Notes

CD Custom Duty

COTS Commercially Off The Shelf

CPO Central Purchase Organization

CPSU Central Public Sector Undertaking

CSC Common Service Centre

CVC Central Vigilance Commission

DD Demand Draft

DeitY Department of Electronics and Information Technology

DP Delivery Period

DR Disaster Recovery

ED Excise Duty

EMD Earnest Money Deposit

EMS Enterprise Management System

EOI Expression of Interest

FM Force Majeure

GFR General Financial Rules

GIS Geographical Information System

GoI Government of India

ICT Information and Communication Technology

INR Indian National Rupee

IP/IA Implementation Partner

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IT Information Technology

LC Letter of Credit

LD Liquidated Damages

LoA Letter of Award

LoI Letter of Intent

MIS Management Information System

MSDG Mobile Service Delivery Gateway

NeGP National eGovernance Plan

NSDG National Services Delivery Gateway

O&M Operations and Maintenance

OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer

PBG Performance Bank Guarantee

PO Purchase Order

PSU Public Sector Undertaking

QCBS Quality Cum Cost Based Selection

RC Rate Contract

RFP Request for Proposal

SDC State Data Centre

SI System Integrator

SLA Service Level Agreement

SO Supply Order

SOA Service Oriented Architecture

SOW Scope of Work

SSDG State Service delivery Gateway

ST Sales Tax

STI Single Tender Inquiry

SWAN State Wide Area Network

ToR Terms of Reference

TPC Tender Purchase Committee

UAT User Acceptance Test

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VAT Value Added Tax

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The purpose of this Manual is to define the Government of Indias broad policies and procedures for

selection, contracting and monitoring of eGovernance Suppliers (i.e. Implementation Agency, Contractor,

Hardware supplier, Software developer, Data Entry Service provider etc.) and other services providers

financed from Govt. of Indias resources. Projects funded partially or in whole by loan/grant from

International organizations like International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD),

International Development Association (IDA) or grant from the Bank or trust funds would normally be

governed by guidelines agreed to in the respective loan/credit agreement with them.

This manual is supplemented by Model RFP, Guidance Notes and draft contract (available at

http://deity.gov.in/content/rfp-standardization-model-rfps-and-guidance-notes) which comply with the

provision of this manual and which should be used and customised in conjunction with the provisions of

this manual.

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Table of Contents

1 PREAMBLE ........................................................................................................................................... 10 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 10 1.2 Aim .................................................................................................................................................... 10 1.3 Scope ................................................................................................................................................ 10 1.4 Present Manual............................................................................................................................ 11 1.5 Guidelines for eGovernment Procurement ....................................................................... 11 1.6 Best Practices for IT Procurement: ...................................................................................... 12 1.7 Terminology and Abbreviations ............................................................................................ 14

2 EGOVERNANCE ARCHITECTURE, STANDARDS & SPECIFICATIONs ................... 16 2.1 Basic Guidelines ......................................................................................................................... 16 2.2 Essential Technical Particulars ............................................................................................ 16 2.3 eGovernment requirement and architecture ................................................................... 17 2.4 Incorporation of eGov standards and Policies ................................................................ 18

3 MODES OF PURCHASE, RECEIPT AND OPENING OF TENDERS ............................. 28 3.1 General ............................................................................................................................................. 28 3.2 Approval of the competent authority to the purchase .......................................................... 28 3.3 Purchase of eGovernance Goods without Quotation ............................................................ 28 3.4 Purchase of eGovernance Goods by Purchase Committee ................................................. 28 3.5 Purchase of Rate Contracted eGovernance Goods ............................................................... 29 3.6 Purchase of eGovernance Goods financed by International Agencies ............................ 29 3.7 Purchase of eGovernance Goods by obtaining Tenders ..................................................... 29 3.8 Open Tender ................................................................................................................................... 30 3.9 Text of Tender Notice ................................................................................................................... 30 3.10 Cost of Tender Documents ......................................................................................................... 31 3.11 Sale of Tender Documents .......................................................................................................... 31 3.12 Limited Tender Enquiry (LTI) .................................................................................................... 32 3.13 Pre-bid Conference ........................................................................................................................ 33 3.14 Format of Tender .......................................................................................................................... 33 3.15 Sealing and Marking of Tenders ............................................................................................... 33 3.16 Extension of Tender Opening Date.......................................................................................... 34 3.17 Amendments / Modifications to Tenders .............................................................................. 34 3.18 Receipt and Custody of Tenders ............................................................................................... 34 3.19 Late Tender ..................................................................................................................................... 35 3.20 Single Stage and Two Stage Bidding ........................................................................................ 35 3.21 Opening of Tenders ...................................................................................................................... 36

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3.22 Responsibility of the Tender Opening Officials .................................................................... 37 3.23 Single Tender Enquiry (STI) ....................................................................................................... 37

4 EARNEST MONEY AND PERFORMANCE SECURITY ...................................................... 39 4.1 Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) .............................................................................................. 39 4.2 Forfeiture of EMD ....................................................................................................................... 39 4.3 Refund of EMD ............................................................................................................................ 39 4.4 Performance Security ................................................................................................................ 40 4.5 Forfeiture of Performance Security ...................................................................................... 40 4.6 Refund of Performance Security ........................................................................................... 40 4.7 Verification of the Bank Guarantees .................................................................................. 40 4.8 Safe Custody of EMDs, Performance Securities & Other Instruments ................ 40

5 DEFINING PRE-QUALIFICATION AND TECHNICAL EVALUATION CRITERION 42 5.1 Expression of Interest ............................................................................................................... 42 5.2 Pre-Qualification ......................................................................................................................... 42 5.3 Designing Pre-Qualification (PQ) / Eligibility Criteria ................................................. 42 5.4 Designing Technical Evaluation Criteria........................................................................... 45

6 KEY CONTRACTUAL TERMS & CONDITIONS .................................................................... 47 6.1 Extension of Delivery Period .................................................................................................. 47 6.2 Performance Notice .................................................................................................................... 47 6.3 Insurance ....................................................................................................................................... 47 6.4 Warrantee ...................................................................................................................................... 48 6.5 Intellectual Property Rights .................................................................................................... 48 6.6 Limitation of Liability ................................................................................................................ 51 6.7 Resale of Bandwidth .................................................................................................................. 51 6.8 Integrity Pact ................................................................................................................................ 52 6.9 Remedies to Purchaser for delay in Supply / Non-Supply ........................................ 53 6.10 Liquidated Damages .................................................................................................................. 54 6.11 Service Level Agreement........................................................................................................... 54 6.12 Force Majeure ............................................................................................................................... 55 6.13 Conflict of Interest ...................................................................................................................... 56 6.14 Cancellation of Contract for Default ................................................................................... 58 6.15 Termination of Contract for insolvency ............................................................................. 59 6.16 Termination of Contract for Convenience ......................................................................... 59

7 ELEMENTS OF PRICE AND TERMS OF PAYMENT .......................................................... 61 7.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 61 7.2 Currency ......................................................................................................................................... 61 7.3 Firm Price vis--vis Variable Price ............................................................................................ 62 7.4 Duties and Taxes on Domestic Goods ..................................................................................... 64

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7.5 Octroi and Local Taxes ................................................................................................................ 65 7.6 Advance Payment to Supplier .................................................................................................... 65 7.7 Documents for Payment ............................................................................................................. 66 7.8 Modes of Payment ........................................................................................................................ 66 7.9 Deduction of Income Tax, Service Tax etc.at Source from Payments to Suppliers ........ 67

8 FINAL TESTING AND CERTIFICATION .................................................................................. 68 8.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 68 8.2 Final testing and certification ................................................................................................ 68

9 EVALUATION OF TENDERS AND PLACEMENT OF CONTRACT ................................ 70 9.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 70 9.2 Designing Technical Evaluation ................................................................................................ 70 9.3 Technical Evaluation Models and Methods ........................................................................... 70 9.4 Preliminary Examination ............................................................................................................ 77 9.5 Qualification Criteria .................................................................................................................. 79 9.6 Conversion of Currencies ........................................................................................................... 80 9.7 Evaluation and Ranking ............................................................................................................. 80 9.8 Award of Contract ......................................................................................................................... 81 9.9 Publication of Tender Result ..................................................................................................... 81 9.10 Return of EMD to Unsuccessful Tenderers ............................................................................ 81 9.11 Tenderers Right to question Purchaser .................................................................................. 81 9.12 Extension of Tender Validity Period ....................................................................................... 82

10 CONTRACT MANAGEMENT.......................................................................................................... 83 10.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 83 10.2 Text of Contract ........................................................................................................................... 83 10.3 Performance Security ................................................................................................................ 83 10.4 Acknowledgement of Contract ............................................................................................... 83 10.5 Coordination ................................................................................................................................. 83 10.6 Amendment to Contract ........................................................................................................... 84 10.7 Payment to the Implementation Agency ............................................................................ 84 10.8 Monitoring of Securities and other Instruments ........................................................... 84 10.9 Closure of Purchase File .......................................................................................................... 84

11 CHANGE REQUESTS ....................................................................................................................... 86 11.1 Change Requests ........................................................................................................................ 86 11.2 What constitutes a Change request : ................................................................................. 87 11.3 Institutional structure proposed to implement the Change Control ............................... 87 11.4 Procedure to affecting the Change Request............................................................................ 88

12 SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES ...................................................................................................... 90 12.1 General ............................................................................................................................................ 90

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12.2 Mode of Settlement ....................................................................................................................... 90 12.3 Venue of Arbitration .................................................................................................................... 94 12.4 Applicable Law ............................................................................................................................. 94 12.5 Legal Advice ................................................................................................................................... 95

13 RATE CONTRACT.............................................................................................................................. 96 13.1 Definition ........................................................................................................................................ 96 13.2 Merits of Rate Contract ................................................................................................................ 96 13.3 Rate Contracts concluded by Central Purchase Organisation ............................................ 97 13.4 Goods/Services for which Rate Contracts are carried out by CPO.................................. 97 13.5 Bringing more and more common user items on the Rate Contract ................................. 98 13.6 Period of Rate Contract ................................................................................................................ 98 13.7 Criteria for award of Rate Contract .......................................................................................... 98 13.8 Special Conditions applicable for Rate Contract ................................................................... 99 13.9 Parallel Rate Contracts .............................................................................................................. 100 13.10 Conclusion of Rate Contracts including Parallel Rate Contracts ................................ 100 13.11 Price Negotiation/Counter-Offer ........................................................................................ 100 13.12 Cartel Formation / Pool Rates ............................................................................................. 101 13.13 Fall Clause ................................................................................................................................. 101 13.14 Implementation of fall clause .......................................................................................... 102 13.15 Performance Security ............................................................................................................ 102 13.16 Renewal of Rate Contracts .................................................................................................... 102 13.17 Placement of Supply Orders................................................................................................ 103

14 STRATEGIC EMPANELMENT OF OEMs ............................................................................... 104

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1 PREAMBLE

1.1 Introduction

Every Ministry / Department spends a sizeable amount of its budget for procuring eGovernance systems and services like Implementation agency, System Integrator, Hardware, Software, Data entry services, AMC services to implement eGovernance projects. It is imperative that these procurements are made following a uniform, systematic, efficient and cost effective procedure, in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations of the Government. The Ministries / Departments have been delegated powers to make their own arrangements for procurement of goods and services under the Delegation of Financial Power Rules, which have to be exercised in conformity with the orders and guidelines issued by competent authorities coverings financial, vigilance, security, safety, counter-trade and other regulatory aspects.

While there are manuals prescribed by various other Ministries/Departments, this manual specifically addresses the nuances of procurement related to eGovernance/Information Technology so as to streamline the procurement processes and thereafter contract management. Without purporting to be a comprehensive compendium of all statutory provisions, rules, regulations, orders and guidelines on the subject of public procurement, this Manual is intended to provide guidance to the procurer in the field of eGovernance / Information Technology to enable him to take an educated decision during the procurement processes.

1.2 Aim

The objective of this procurement manual is to standardize the procurement procedure for e-Governance Projects in terms of Scope, Requirement, Bidding, Contract Management, SLAs, Payments etc in order to optimally utilise the allocated budgetary resources. While achieving the same, the manual will also ensure the highest degree of probity and public accountability, transparency in operations, free competition and impartiality. In addition, the manual will also help in realizing the objectives of ambitious Digital India Programof Government of India.

1.3 Scope

The Manual on Policies and Procedures for Procurement in eGovernance will cover all e-Governance / IT Procurement undertaken by all Ministries / Department of Government of India both from indigenous sources and ex-import. States & UT Governments /PSU may, , continue to follow their own procedures for procurement as long as they are in-sync with the

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broader objectives of Transparency, impartiality and free competition supported by this manual.

1.4 Present Manual

This Manual has been drafted on the basis of General Financial Rules (2005), Manual on Policies and Procedures for Purchase of Goods (2006) and Manual of Policies and Procedure of Employment of Consultants (2006), prepared by Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

This procurement manual should be read in conjunction with Model RFP Guidelines and templates prepared by DeitY for procurement of System Integrators, PPP, and Consulting Agencies. These guidelines are available at

http://deity.gov.in/content/rfp-standardization-model-rfps-and-guidance-notes

This manual contains guidelines and directives concerning purchase of eGovernance Products and services with public funds as well as some allied areas such as AMC, Data Entry, Training, Change management etc. Relevant aspects of purchase management techniques have been incorporated in proper sequence under separate chapters. The text incorporated in each chapter has been highlighted with appropriate sub-heads. This arrangement will help the users to readily locate the desired subjects/sub-subjects.

1.5 Guidelines for eGovernment Procurement

At the apex of the legal framework governing eGovernment procurement is Article 299 of the Constitution, which stipulates that contracts legally binding on the Government have to be executed in writing by officers specifically authorized to do so. Further, the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 are major legislations governing contracts of sale/ purchase of goods in general. There is no existing law exclusively governing public procurement of goods. However, comprehensive rules and directives in this regard are available in the General Financial Rules (GFR), 2005, especially chapter 6; Delegation of Financial Powers Rules (DFPR); and the guidelines issued by the Central Vigilance Commission to increase transparency and objectivity in public procurement. These provide the regulatory framework for the public procurement system.

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1.6 Best Practices for IT Procurement:

This manual aims to ensure Transparency, Competition, Fairness and Elimination of Arbitrariness in eGovernance procurement.. The following are some important measures to achieve the same and, thus, secure best value for money:

(a) The text of the tender document should be user-friendly, self- contained, comprehensive, unambiguous, and relevant to the objective of the purchase. The use of terminology used in common parlance in the industry should be preferred. The specifications of the required e-Governance System should be framed giving sufficient details in such a manner that it is neither too elaborately restrictive as to deter potential tenderers or increase the cost of purchase nor too sketchy to leave scope for sub-standard supply. The specifications must meet the essential requirements of the user department. Efforts should also be made to use standard specifications, which are widely known to the industry (A template of draft Scope of work is provided in Section 2.7 of Guidance Notes of Model RFP templates for Implementation Agencies http://deity.gov.in/content/rfp-standardization-model-rfps-and-guidance-notes).

(b) The tender document should clearly mention the eligibility criteria to be met by the tenderers such as minimum level of experience, past performance, technical capability, solution proposed, certifications, resources proposed etc. (refer Section 2.4 and 2.5 of Guidance Notes and Section 2.6 of Model RFP templates for Implementation Agencies http://deity.gov.in/content/rfp-standardization-model-rfps-and-guidance-notes).

(c) Restrictions on who is qualified to tender should conform to extant Government policies and be judiciously chosen so as not to stifle competition amongst potential tenderers.

(d) The procedure for preparing and submitting the tenders; deadline for submission of tenders; date, time & place of public opening of tenders; requirement of earnest money and performance security; parameters for determining responsiveness of tenders; evaluating of tenders and criteria for acceptance of tender and conclusion of contract should be incorporated in the tender in clear terms.

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(e) Tenders should be evaluated in terms of the criteria already incorporated in the tender document, based on which tenders have been received. Any new condition, which was not incorporated in the tender document, should not be brought into consideration while evaluating the tenders.

(f) Sufficient time should be allowed to the tenderers to prepare and submit their tenders.

(g) Suitable provisions should be kept in the tender document allowing the tenderers reasonable opportunity to question the specifications proposed, tender conditions, tendering process, and/or rejection of its tender and the settlement of disputes, if any, emanating from the resultant contract.

(h) It should be made clear in the tender document that tenderers are not ordinarily be permitted to alter or modify their tenders after expiry of the deadline for receipt of tender till the date of validity of tenders and if they do so, their earnest money will be forfeited.

(i) Negotiations with the tenderers must be severely discouraged. However, in exceptional circumstances, where price negotiations are considered unavoidable, the same may be resorted to, but only with the lowest evaluated responsive tenderer, and that too with the approval of the competent authority, after duly recording the reasons for such action.

(j) The name of the successful tenderer to whom the supply contract is awarded should be appropriately notified by the purchase organization for the information through various channels but specifically on website and also should be communicated to all the bidders on email.

(k) The time frame for submission of Expression of Interest (EOI) document submission is a minimum of 15 days. The timelines for submission of a bid is a minimum of 21 days1 and can be extended depending on the complexity of the bids and the number of OEMs the tenderer may have to reach out to put together the entire bid. The conclusion of contract should

1 For Global Tenders, this time period is 28 days

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ordinarily be within the original validity of the tenders unless explicitly stated in the original bid. Adequate time should be budgeted for the procurement process for the replacement of the Implementation Agency (IA). For complex services, the Department should budget in for overlap in the time for the incumbent IA and new IA so that there is adequate Knowledge Transfer. Extension of tender validity must be discouraged and resorted to only in absolutely unavoidable, exceptional circumstances with the approval of the competent authority after duly recording the reasons for such extension.

(l) The Central Purchase Organizations of GoI (i.e. DGS&D or any other new created by any Department of GoI) have published a rate contract system wherein more and more common user items, which are frequently needed in bulk by various Ministries / Departments are listed.

This Manual is intended to serve this objective.

1.7 Terminology and Abbreviations

1.7.1 Standard terminology has been adopted in this Manual. In certain areas, there may be two or more widely used terminologies bearing the same meaning as mentioned below:

i) Tender, Bid, Quotation. (Meaning: offer received from a supplier)

ii) Tenderer, Bidder. (Meaning: an entity who seeks to supply eGovernance Goods by sending tender/bid)

iii) Tender Enquiry Document, Tender Document, Bidding Document. (Meaning: a detailed document issued by the purchaser specifying his needs and the requirements that a potential tenderer/bidder must meet).

iv) Notice Inviting Tenders, Invitation for Bids (Meaning: advertisement containing brief details of the requirement).

v) Earnest Money Deposit, Bid Security. (Meaning: monetary guarantee furnished by a tenderer along with its tender) Security Deposit, Performance Security. [Meaning: monetary guarantee furnished by the successful tenderer for due performance of the contract concluded with it.]

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vi) Security Deposit, Performance Security. [Meaning: monetary guarantee furnished by the successful tenderer for due performance of the contract concluded with it.]

vii) Nodal Agency, Purchaser, Procurer, Department, Customer. (Meaning : The Purchaser which is responsible for executing the project and assists the Department in carrying out the tendering. In case the Government department itself decides to carry out the tendering and execute the project, then the term Purchaser and the Department are the same.

viii) Department. (Meaning: The ultimate owner of the project. The eGovernance is carried out within the domain of the department).

ix) Implementation Agency, System Integrator, Contractor, Supplier (Meaning : The successful bidder which has signed the contract with the Purchaser for the supply of IT products and services posting winning the tender)

x) eGov Goods/ eGovernance Goods (Meaning : All goods and services covered under the domain of eGovernance which includes Hardware, Software, Networking, Data entry services, change management, training etc.)

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2 EGOVERNANCE ARCHITECTURE, STANDARDS & SPECIFICATIONs

2.1 Basic Guidelines

The important aspects to be kept in view while formulating the specifications and other technical particulars of eGovernment Procurement are indicated in the following paragraphs.

The specifications of the eGovernment Procurement shall meet only the actual and essential needs of the user because over-specification will unnecessarily increase the cost and may stifle competition. Specifications should aim at procuring the latest technology (generally N-1 version, i.e. one version older than the latest as it is a value for money product) and avoid procurement of obsolete eGovernance goods and services. Specifications should have emphasis on factors like processing speed, memory, security, scalability, reliability, efficiency, interoperability, performance, availability, ease of implementation, low maintenance cost etc. Further, the specifications should not be too restrictive as the aim should be to attract reasonable number of competitive tenderers. The specifications should also take care of the mandatory and statutory regulations, if any, applicable for the eGovernance Goods to be purchased.

2.2 Essential Technical Particulars

Technical particulars to be specified in the tender document shall include the following to the extent applicable for a particular purchase:

i) Scope of supply including quantity required and, also, end use of the required eGovernance Goods.

ii) Specifications, technical parameters and product requirements expressing a detailed tabular functional and non functional requirements.

iii) Technical Architecture Drawings.

iv) Requirements of acceptability criterion, if any.

v) Requirement of type approval for compliance of statutory requirements w.r.t. security

vi) Training, technical support, after sales service and annual maintenance contract requirements, if any.

vii) Warranty requirements.

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viii) Any other aspects peculiar to the eGovernance Goods in question like shelf life of the equipment etc.

The technical and legal particulars have been provided in Model RFP templates for Implementation Agencies http://deity.gov.in/content/rfp-standardization-model-rfps-and-guidance-notes)

2.3 eGovernment requirement and architecture

To realize its full benefit, an eGovernment procurement system has to be interoperable with multiple external systems (such as those of legacy application, certification authorities, etc.) and internal back-office systems (such as those of the treasury). The exchange of information between the eGovernment procured system and the external systems during different phases of procurement should be seamless. Technical considerations related to eGovernment procurement include information security, interoperability, reliability, scalability, and availability.

Apart from ensuring reliability, it is also recommended that governments establish mechanisms to handle potential system disruptions by applying business continuity planning (BCP) and disaster recovery (DRs). Key system components of eGovernment procurement should be included in any risk management strategy include content management, access control management, workflow management, and system integration. The information issues of authentication, authorization, confidentiality, integrity, and non-repudiation also need to be addressed within the risk management framework, along with virus protection and other security threats.

Additional technical requirements to be considered include use of single sign-on (SSO) capability so that users log on once and are able to access all appropriate services in eGovernment Procurement based on authorizations created for them in the system, use of server certificates supporting secure communication over an encrypted Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) session, and extensive audit trail facilities implemented for every electronic procurement and administration activity performed through the system.

By applying a service-oriented architecture (SOA) paradigm to the design of core components, eGovernment Procurement system implementers can ensure a significant improvement in system flexibility, while leveraging the benefits of reuse at the same time. Online help can be offered, providing assistance at any time to users performing activities in the system through means such as in-context sensitive help, user manuals, wizards, walkthroughs, and online demonstrations.

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The eGovernment Procurement system should also include performance measures to assist with administration, establish maintenance criteria, and generate performance standards.

An illustrative technology architecture which provided linkages to the various artifacts/infrastructure created for eGovernance in India is presented below. The same should be leveraged.

The cloud services (as being drafted by DeitY, GoI) can also be used for SaaS (Software as a service), PaaS (Platform as a service) and IaaS (Infrastructure as a service) to suitably replace the components of the above technical architecture.

2.4 Incorporation of eGov standards and Policies

A standard is defined as a technical specification, recommended practices or guidelines available to the public, drawn up with the cooperation and consensus or general approval of all interests affected by it, based on the consolidated results of science, technology and experience, aimed at the promotion of optimum community benefits and approved by a body recognized at the national, regional or international level. eGovernance standards prescribe set of rules, conditions or requirements that play an important role in building the architecture of eGovernance.

The essential requirements of interoperability, security, usability and reduction in cost can only achieved through standardization and use of standards. The table below provides a brief description of the eGovernance standards approved by Department of

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Electronics and IT (DeitY) and also provides mentions their relevance and usage in RFPs for various eGovernance projects.

# Standard Description Target stakeholders Mandatory/ Recommended 1 Standards and

Specifications for e-Pramaan: Framework for e-Authentication

This standard aims at providing guidelines for all central and state ministries, departments and government agencies towards adopting an appropriate authentication model for online and mobile based delivery of public services. It describes broad level specifications for developing the e-Pramaan authentication system. It elucidates the rationale, use cases and process flows to be used for detailed design. It also elucidates the standards that will be used to develop the components, APIs as well as the protocols for the framework.

Security Architects

Technical Consultants

Application Developers

Recommended standard

2 Biometric Standards

The Indian Government encourages use of biometric data for identification and verification of individuals in eGovernance applications. The biometric data includes fingerprint image, minutiae, face image and iris data. Face Image Data Standards: This standard includes capture and storage specifications of face images for human visual inspection and verification of the individuals in Indian EGovernance applications. A possible future use of these images for computer based face recognition is kept in view during the capture and storage. It specifies a format to store face image data within a biometric data record compliant to the

All eGovernance projects of the Central and State Government or any other organization which need to comply with this standard for the purpose of interoperability

All Integrators/ Service providers for Indian eGovernance applications.

Face Image Standards: eGovernance

projects rolled

Specifications mentioned under these standards are mandatory for all eGovernance projects in India, using any of these Biometric technologies. However, its best practices are recommended for all such projects.

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# Standard Description Target stakeholders Mandatory/ Recommended Common Biometric Exchange Formats Framework (CBEFF), given in ISO 19785-1. It also includes best practices recommended for implementation of the specifications in different categories of eGovernance applications. This biometric Standards would be applicable to all eGovernance applications in India as per the Governments Policy on Open Standards. Fingerprint Image Data Standards eGovernment applications using fingerprinting technology deal with fingerprint data at multiple stages. It is possible that different fingerprint capturing devices and software (compression algorithms and matching algorithms) are used at different stages. The purpose of this standard is to ensure interoperability among various fingerprint sensors and algorithms by which the fingerprint images are captured/ stored by standardizing the specifications for fingerprint devices, fingerprint image, storage/transmission and minutiae. Iris Image Data Standards This standard ensures interoperability among the eGovernance applications requiring iris recognition, by standardizing iris specifications including the storage and

out by Central and State Governments or any other organization using face images or face photographs.

organization using face images or face photographs.

Photographers, who capture facial images for eGovernance applications.

All Integrators/Biometric Service providers.

Fingerprint Image Data Standards Vendors of

fingerprint devices or software developers for conversion of images to different

Standard formats, quality evaluation software, minutiae extraction and matching algorithms etc.

Iris Image Data

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# Standard Description Target stakeholders Mandatory/ Recommended transmission formats. It specifies Iris image data specifications, acquisition, storage and transmission formats. It also includes best practices for implementation of the Standard specifications in different categories of eGovernance applications, based on the volume of data and verification/ accuracy requirements. Thus, to allow the application developer maximum flexibility in usage of algorithms and devices from different vendors and to address interoperability requirements, the iris image must be captured and stored as per standard specifications.

Standards All those

eGovernance projects where identity management is an important issue e.g., cyber security, defence, counter terrorism etc.

Vendors of Iris image acquisition devices or software developers for conversion of images as per the Standardised format

Iris Image Data Standards

This standard ensures interoperability among the eGovernance applications requiring iris recognition, by standardizing iris specifications including the storage and transmission formats. It specifies Iris image data specifications, acquisition, storage and transmission formats. It also includes best practices for implementation of the Standard specifications in different categories of eGovernance applications, based on the volume of data and verification/ accuracy requirements. Thus, to allow the application developer maximum flexibility in usage of algorithms and devices from different vendors and to address interoperability requirements, the

All those eGovernance projects where identity management is an important issue e.g., cyber security, defence, counter terrorism etc.

Vendors of Iris image acquisition devices or software developers for conversion of images as per the Standardised format

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# Standard Description Target stakeholders Mandatory/ Recommended iris image must be captured and stored as per standard specifications.

3 Digital Preservation Standard: eGovernance Standards for Preservation Information Documentation of e-Records (Metadata & Schema)

The eGovernance standard for Preservation Information Documentation (eGOV-PID) of electronic records provides standard metadata dictionary and schema for describing an electronic record. The e-records have to be preserved in such way that it should be possible to find, read, represent, render and interpret them accurately as original along with all the associated information necessary for its comprehension in distant future. Most of the preservation information (metadata) can be automatically captured using this schema after the final e-record is created, as most of the required information is already present in an eGovernment system. Such preservation information documentation is necessary only for those e-records that need to be retained for long durations (e.g. 10 years, 25 years, 50 years and beyond) and the e-records that need to be preserved permanently. The implementation of this standard helps in producing a valid input i.e. Submission Information Package (SIP) for archival and preservation purpose.

E-record producers and data managers

Departmental Record Officers (DROs) record keepers, archivists and preservation officers

All stakeholders in central and state government, as well as public and private organizations involved in execution, design, development and implementation of eGovernance applications.

Central, state, district level archiving organizations

Use of Digital Preservation Standard is a mandatory for all eGov projects.

4 Localisation & Language Technology Standard

Character Encoding Standard Character Encoding standard aims at facilitating global data interchange in all constitutionally recognized Indian languages and addresses specific areas of Localisation issues. Fonts Standard

eGovernment Services providers in all Constitutionally recognized Indian Languages

This is a mandatory standard to be followed by eGovernance service providers.

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# Standard Description Target stakeholders Mandatory/ Recommended Fonts standard aims at providing a single International Standard to comply with UNICODE data storage. This ensures data portability across various applications and platforms. It mandates use of ISO/IEC 14496-OFF (Open Font Format) font standard for all 22 constitutionally recognized languages. It resolves the issues faced when mutually incompatible proprietary fonts of different standards are used in Government Offices, causing serious problems in information exchange amongst offices.

5 Metadata and Data standards

The objective of Metadata and Data standards is to define standards to enable semantic interoperability and management of data. These Standards provide a way for information resources in electronic form to communicate their existence and their nature to other electronic applications (e.g. via HTML or XML) or search tools and to permit exchange of information between applications. Their adoption will enable easier, efficient exchange and processing of data. It will also remove ambiguities and inconsistencies in the use of data.

All stake holders in Central and State Govt., as well as Public and Private

Organizations, involved in execution, design, development and implementation of eGovernance applications.

Administrative Governance providers

Development schemes Providers

Welfare Scheme Providers

Disaster Management Groups etc.

This Standard would be mandatorily applicable to all eGovernance applications in India as per the Governments Policy on Open Standards.

6 Quality The purpose of the eGovernance Policy makers Each project

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# Standard Description Target stakeholders Mandatory/ Recommended Assurance Framework (QAF)

Quality Assurance Framework is to provide assurance that work products (solutions) and processes comply with predefined provisions and plans. It outlines a standard for use by senior administrators, project management personnel, external consultants and vendors involved in eGovernance implementation. It indicates the general operational principles and technical aspects that a quality assurance exercise should incorporate when customized to the requirements of a specific eGovernance project. The QAF is linked to the project lifecycle and integrates quality assurance requirements for all the necessary phases that a project goes through. The three principal objectives of quality assurance in eGovernance are: Ensuring system (in terms of

processes, products and services) requirements are defined (Definition)

Ensuring the system conforms to requirements (Verification)

Ensuring user satisfaction with the system, once it goes live (Validation)

The 3 objectives of quality assurance in an eGovernance project lifecycle can be achieved through the identification and application of Quality Gates (QG) at various phases of the project. Each QG consists of a set of quality baselines relevant to that project phase and is aligned with relevant IS/ ISO standards. QGS are categorized into

Administrators Implementing

agencies Project

managers Private sector

contractors Consultants.

mandatorily required to clear the essential QG regardless of scope or duration.

Desirable QGs can be incorporated into project planning based on complexity, risk and resource availability.

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# Standard Description Target stakeholders Mandatory/ Recommended essential and desirable. The essential QGs relate to four key areas: Quality Processes in the

Organisation (Gate 1) Software Quality (Gate 2) Information Security (Gate 3) IT Service Quality (Gate 4) Desirable QGs relate to such aspects as project documentation, use of recognised standards and architectures, risk management, business continuity planning etc. The QAF will help in developing and maintaining sound relationship between private and public partners in case of PublicPrivatePartnerships (PPP). It is also expected to facilitate greater clarity and granularity in RFP and contract conditions as QAF provisions are based on internationally recognised standards.

7 Conformity Assessment Requirement (CARE) for eGovernance applications

Conformity Assessment provides an indicator of the degree of compliance of the solution to its requirements. For the purpose of eGovernance, Conformity assessment includes activities like sampling and testing; inspection, review, certification, management system assessment and registration etc. CARE outlines an approach to achieve the objectives of Quality Assurance through:

a. mapping the solution architecture of an eGovernance system with CARE

b. identifying the Component of Interest in the architecture,

c. applying a relevant Quality

RFP Writers Solution

providers/ vendors

CARE is a mandatory standard to be followed in all eGovernance projects.

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# Standard Description Target stakeholders Mandatory/ Recommended Gate to the Component of Interest and finally

d. assessing conformity of Component of Interest to the quality standards comprising that Quality Gate.

The entire process of identifying Components of Interest and applying Quality gates is termed as Conformity Assessment. The Component of Interest is any module of the architecture of an eGovernance system that is intended to undergo a conformity assessment exercise. These modules are defined in the eGovernance Architecture consisting of the user layer, technology layer and organization layer. The level of assurance required on a particular module is based on the needs of the organization. A Quality Gate (QG) is a supporting set of processes which enables controls and assurance to achieve the desired level of confidence. The Quality Gates should be identified in the RFP/ contract document by the project leader and may be used for objective evaluation to ensure that the Components of Interest are capable of achieving predefined goals.

8 Technical Standards for Interoperability Framework for eGovernance (IFEG)

The purpose of these standards is to provide a framework for the selection of Standards to facilitate interoperability between systems developed by multiple agencies. It provides organizations the flexibility to select different hardware and software for implementing cost-effective

Project Teams of eGovernance applications in all Departments at Central / State Government level

Contractual

It is a mandatory standard for all eGovernance projects.

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# Standard Description Target stakeholders Mandatory/ Recommended eGovernance solutions. It, therefore, promotes technology choice, and avoids vendor lock-in. In Interoperability Framework for eGovernance (IFEG), the 'Areas' for eGovernance applications have been categorized under 7 broad domains:

Presentation and Archival

Process Data Integration Meta-data Data Interchange Network Access and

Application Security

The Technical standards for IFEG in India describes technical standards to be adopted for eGovernance application under each of the domain covered under IFEG, as per the Policy on Open standards of eGovernance.

Policy framing agencies for development of eGovernance Applications

All integrators / service providers for Indian eGovernance Applications

The above standards (as applicable for the IT Products & Services being procured) should be incorporated as a part of the tender document. Any exception to the above should be recorded in writing.

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3 MODES OF PURCHASE, RECEIPT AND OPENING OF TENDERS

3.1 General

Depending on the nature of the required eGovernance Goods, the quantity & value involved and the period of supply, the purchase organization is to decide the appropriate mode of purchase. The various modes of purchase to be adopted for this purpose are indicated in the subsequent paragraphs.

3.2 Approval of the competent authority to the purchase

Demand for eGovernance Goods should not be divided into smaller quantities for making piece meal purchases for the sole purpose of avoiding the necessity of obtaining the sanction of higher authority required with reference to the estimated value of the total demand.

3.3 Purchase of eGovernance Goods without Quotation

Purchase of eGovernance Goods upto a value of Rs 15,0002/- (Rs Fifteen Thousand only) on each occasion may be made without inviting quotations/bids by the competent authority on the basis of a certificate to be recorded by him in the following format:

"I, am personally satisfied that these IT goods and/or product and/or services purchased are of the requisite quality and specification and have been purchased from a reliable supplier at a reasonable price."

3.4 Purchase of eGovernance Goods by Purchase Committee

Purchase of eGovernance goods costing above Rs. 15,000/- (Rs. Fifteen Thousand only) and upto3 Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rs. One lakh only) on each occasion may be made on the recommendations of a duly constituted Local Purchase Committee consisting of three members of an appropriate level as decided by the Head of Department. The committee will survey the market to ascertain the reasonableness of rate, quality and specifications and identify the appropriate supplier. Before recommending

2 DoE(MoF) is considering revision of this range

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placement of the purchase order the members of the committee will jointly record a certificate as under:

"Certified that we , members of the purchase committee are jointly and individually satisfied that the eGovernance 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 eGovernance goods in question."

3.5 Purchase of Rate Contracted eGovernance Goods

The Central Purchase Organization will conclude rate contracts with the suppliers, for eGovernance Goods and items of standards types which are identified as common user items and are needed on recurring basis by various Ministries / Departments. The Central Purchase Organization are expected to post the specifications, prices and other salient details of different rate contracted items, appropriately updated, on its web site for use by the procuring Ministries/Departments. The Ministries/Departments are to operate those rate contracts to the maximum extent possible. The Ministry / Department shall make its own arrangement for inspection and testing of such eGovernance Goods where required.

The limits mentioned in Section 3.3 and 3.4 does not apply for Purchase of Rate Contracted EGovernance Goods as these rates have been discovered through a Open Tender process.

3.6 Purchase of eGovernance Goods financed by International Agencies

The Articles of Agreement with the International Agencies, like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank etc. stipulate specific procurement procedures to be followed by the borrowers. The procurement procedures, as finalized and incorporated in the Agreements after consideration and approval of the Ministry of Finance are to be followed accordingly.

3.7 Purchase of eGovernance Goods by obtaining Tenders

Except for the purchase of eGovernance goods through the methods given in the preceding paragraphs, Ministries/ Departments shall procure eGovernance Goods within their delegated powers by following the standard method of obtaining tenders as follows:

(i) Open Tender

(ii) Limited Tender Enquiry (LTI)

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(iii) Single Tender Enquiry (STI)

3.8 Open Tender

Subject to exceptions incorporated for Limited Tender Enquiry and Single Tender Enquiry below, invitation to tenders by advertisement should be used for procurement of eGovernance goods of estimated value of Rs. 25 lakhs (Rupees Twenty Five Lakhs only)3 and above.

Advertisement (in the form of a Tender Notice) relating to Open Tender should be given in at least in one national daily having wide circulation and one in local newspaper. Further, an organization having its own web site is also to publish all its tender notices (relating to Open Tenders) on its own web site and provide a link with NIC web site. Additionally, for wider publicity, all Ministries / Departments should also publish their tender notices in the web site of Central Purchase Organization (e.g eProcurement through Central Procurement Portal at http://eprocure.gov.in/cppp/).

Where the Ministry / Department feels that the eGovernance Goods of the required quality, specifications etc., may not be available in the country and/or it is also necessary to look for suitable competitive offers from abroad, the Ministry/ Department may send copies of the tender notice to the Indian Embassies abroad as well as to the Foreign Embassies in India requesting them to give wide publicity of the requirement in those countries. They may also be requested to put the tender notice in their web sites. The selection of the embassies will depend on the possibility of availability of the required eGovernance goods in such countries. Publicizing the requirement globally as above is also known as Global Tender Enquiry.

3.9 Text of Tender Notice

The tender notice for an Open tender should be carefully drafted. It should contain all the salient features of the requirement in brief to give a clear idea to the prospective tenderers about the requirements. Superfluous or irrelevant details should not be incorporated in the tender notice, as it will increase the cost of the advertisement.

The Tender Notice should at least contain:

3 DoE(MoF) is considering revision of this limit

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Brief about the project

Last date of submission of RFP

How to get copy of RFP document

Contact person name and contact details

The detailed information should be available in the Fact sheet of the RFP and should contain at the minimum:

Method of selection

Cost of the tender/bidding document

Amount & Form of Bid Security / Earnest Money Deposit

Period and terms of delivery

Place(s) and timing of sale of tender documents

Place and deadline for receipt of tenders

Any other important information

3.10 Cost of Tender Documents

Price of the tender document should take care of the preparation and delivering cost only. If it is too high, it will discourage the prospective bidders to purchase the document and participate in the bidding process.

3.11 Sale of Tender Documents

The organization should also post the complete tender document in the web site and permit prospective tenderers to make use of the document downloaded from the web site. If the tender document is a priced one, there should be clear instructions for the tenderers in the document (which has been downloaded) to pay the amount by demand draft etc. along with the tender, prepared in the downloaded document. In case the tender documents are not put on the website (for e.g. when the RFP is to be sold against signing of a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) by the prospective bidder), then the Tender documents should be sold at least upto one day prior to date of opening of tenders and the same should be clearly indicated in the documents.

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Under normal circumstances (i.e. cases where signing of NDA is not required) the sale of tender documents should not be restricted and should be available on its website.

The purchase organization shall maintain proper records about the number of tender documents sold, list of parties to whom sold, details of the amount received through sale and, also, the number of unsold tender documents, which are to be cancelled after the opening of the tenders. The RFP documents uploaded on CPP portal also provides the name of the parties who downloaded the tender which can be used for communication pertaining to the tender processes.

3.12 Limited Tender Enquiry (LTI)

This method may be adopted when estimated value of the eGovernance goods to be procured is up to Rs. 25 lakhs4. Copies of the bidding document should be sent, free of cost, directly by speed post/registered post/courier/e-mail, simultaneously to all the firms, which are borne on the list of a relevant empanelment. The number of supplier firms in LTI should be more than three. Purchase through LTI may be adopted even when the estimated value of the procurement is more than Rs. 25 lakh5, in the following circumstances:

(a) The competent authority in the Ministry / Department certifies that the demand is urgent and any additional expenditure involved by not procuring through Open Tender is justified in view of urgency. The Ministry / Department should also put on record the nature of the urgency and reasons why the procurement could not be anticipated earlier.

(b) When the empanelment has been carried out by an Open Tender processes

(c) There are sufficient reasons, to be recorded in writing by the competent authority, indicating that it will not be in public interest to procure the eGovernance goods through advertised tender enquiry.

(d) The sources of supply are definitely known and possibility of fresh source(s) beyond those being tapped is remote.


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(e) Nature of items to be procured is such that pre-verification of competence of firm is essential, hence requires registration of firms. Sufficient time should be allowed for submission of bids in Limited Tender Enquiry cases.

3.13 Pre-bid Conference

In case of turn-key contract or contract of special nature for purchase of sophisticated and costly equipment, a suitable provision is to be kept in the tender enquiry document for a pre-bid conference for clarifying issues and clearing doubts, if any, about the specification and other allied technical details projected in the tender enquiry document. The date, time and place of pre-bid conference should be indicated in the tender enquiry document for information of the interested tenderers. This date should be sufficiently ahead of tender opening date. In case the pre-bid conference results in an issuance of a corrigendum/amendment/modification, appropriate extension of the bid submission date should be provided to the bidders.

3.14 Format of Tender

The tenderers are to furnish their quotations as per the prescribed format and also as per the instructions incorporated in the tender documents. Quotations sent by email or facsimile are to be ignored and rejected.

3.15 Sealing and Marking of Tenders

DeitY encourages the tendering processes by leveraging etendering infrastructure for having an objective, open, transparent and compliant bidding processes. All Departments are encouraged to use the Central Public Procurement Portal (at http://eprocure.gov.in/cppp/) for carrying out the etendering processes.

However in case, the department is using the physical copies for submission of the tender document, then

a) the tender document is to indicate the total number of tender sets (e.g., in duplicate or in triplicate etc) required to be submitted.

b) The tenderer is to seal the original and each copy of the tender in separate envelopes, duly marking the same as original, duplicate and so on and also putting the address of the purchase office and the tender reference number on the envelopes.

c) Further, the sentence NOT TO BE OPENED before (due date & time of tender opening) are also to be put on these envelopes. The inner envelopes are then to

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be put in a bigger outer envelope, which will also be duly sealed marked etc. as above. If the outer envelope is not sealed and marked properly as above, the purchaser will not assume any responsibility for its misplacement, premature opening, late opening etc.

All the above instructions are to be suitably incorporated in the tender documents.

3.16 Extension of Tender Opening Date

Sometimes, situations may arise necessitating modification of the tender documents already issued (LTI case) or already put on sale (Open Tender case). Also, after receiving the documents, a tenderer may point out some genuine mistakes necessitating amendment in the tender documents. In such situations, it is necessary to amend/modify the tender documents suitably prior to the date of submission of bids. Copies of such amendment / modification should be simultaneously sent to all the selected suppliers by publishing on the website where the tender document was originally hosted/ registered/speed post/courier/e-mail or a combination thereof.

When the amendment/modification changes the requirement significantly and /or when there is not much time left for the tenderers to respond to such amendments, and prepare revised tender, the time and date of submission of tenders are also to be extended suitably, along with suitable changes in the corresponding time-frames for receipt of tender, tender validity period etc and validity period of the corresponding EMD/bid security. Depending on the situation, such an amendment may also need fresh publication adopting the same procedure as for publication of the original tender enquiry.

3.17 Amendments / Modifications to Tenders

The tenderer, after submitting its tender, is permitted to submit alterations/modifications to its tender so long such alterations/modifications are received duly sealed and marked like original tender, upto the date & time of receipt of tender. Any amendment/modification received after the prescribed date & time of receipt of tenders are not to be considered.

3.18 Receipt and Custody of Tenders

Receipt and custody of tenders shall be done in a transparent manner. This issue is well addressed for tender received on the eTendering platform wherein the digital signatures are to be used for the opening of the bid.

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However for the Tenders are to be received physically though tender box and, in its absence, by hand delivery to the nominated officials of the purchase department. The information about these officials should also be displayed at the entrance / reception of the premises where tenders are to be deposited. The officer receiving a tender is to give the bearer of the tender a receipt duly signed by him with date and time of receipt of the tender. A separate register is to be maintained for keeping records of the bids, received by hand. Such bids will be kept in safe custody with the head of the office or his authorized representative till the date & time of bid opening and then such bids will be handed over to the bid opening.

Sometimes, tenders are also received by post. Such tenders shall be received and documented in identical manner as applicable for tenders received through hand delivery.

3.19 Late Tender

In the case of Open Tender or limited tender enquiry, late tenders (i.e., tenders received after the specified date and time for receipt of tenders) should not be considered.

3.20 Single Stage and Two Stage Bidding

For tender which involve simple procurement of a product a single stage bidding is to be followed. In this process, the tender contains the response and the price in one single envelope. The tender is to be awarded to the lowest bidder which meets all the bidding requirements

For procurement of complex products & services, normally a two stage bidding is to be followed. The first part is to contain the relevant technical specifications and allied commercial details (without the price quotation) as required in terms of the tender enquiry documents and the second part should contain only the price quotation. The first part is commonly known as Technical Bid and the second part Financial Bid.

The technical bid and the financial bid should be sealed by the tenderer in separate covers duly super scribed and both these sealed covers are to be put in a bigger cover which should also be sealed and duly super scribed. The technical bids are to be opened in the first instance, at the prescribed time & date and the same will be scrutinized and evaluated by the competent committee/authority with reference to parameters prescribed in the tender documents and the offers received from the tenderers. Thereafter, in the second stage, the financial bids of only the technically acceptable offers (as decided in the first stage above) are to be opened for further scrutiny, evaluation, ranking and placement of contract.

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3.21 Opening of Tenders

All the tenders received on time shall be opened in the presence of authorized representatives of the tenderers (who have submitted regular tenders) at the prescribed time, date and place. The authorized representatives, who intend to attend the tender opening, are to bring with them letters of authority from the corresponding tenderers.

Tenders should be opened immediately after the deadline of receipt of tenders with minimum time gap in between. At least two duly authorized officials of the purchase department should jointly open the tenders.

The tender opening officials are to announce the salient features of the tenders against the checklist, which may include separate sealed envelopes for Pre-qualification, Technical Bid, and Commercial bid, EMD and Bid purchase costs, validity period for EMD and any other special feature of the tender for the information of the representatives attending the tender opening.

The opening of the bid should be as per the process laid down in the tender document. In case of a two stage bid, the envelopes containing the prequalification, EMD and Bid costs should be opened. The other envelopes containing the technical bid and commercial bid should be identified for each bidder and kept with the officials in safe custody till the results of pre-qualification are announced. After opening of envelope containing the pre-qualification document, every tender shall be numbered serially, initialed, and dated on the first page by all the officials authorized to open the tenders. Each page of the pre-qualification shall also be initialed by them with date. Prima facie gaps (if any), found against the pre-qualification checklist will be noted by the officials at this stage.

The original, duplicate, triplicate copies in a tender set are to be marked accordingly by the tender opening officials.

Alterations in tenders, if any, made by the tenderers, shall be initialed with date & time by the officials opening the tenders to make it perfectly clear that such alterations were present on the tenders at the time of opening. Wherever any erasing or cutting is observed, the substituted words should also be encircled and initialed with date & time to make clear that such erasing/cutting of the original entry was present on the tender at the time of opening.

The above process is to be followed in the same manner for opening of Technical bid and Commercial bid in subsequent stages for a two stage three envelop bids.

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3.22 Responsibility of the Tender Opening Officials

In addition to what has been mentioned above, the tender opening officials will prepare a list of the representatives attending the tender opening and obtain their signatures on the same. The list will also contain the representatives names and the corresponding tenderers names & addresses. The authority letters brought by the representatives will be attached with this list. This list will be signed by both the tender opening officials with date & time.

An on-the-spot report containing the names of the tenderers (serial number wise) salient features of the tenders, as read out during public opening of tenders will be prepared by the tender opening officers duly signed by them with date & time.

The tenders, which have been opened, the list of the representatives attending the tender opening and the on-the spot report are to be handed over to the nominated purchase officer and acknowledgement obtained for the same.

3.23 Single Tender Enquiry (STI)

Obtaining quotation by issuing single tender enquiry to a selected source amounts to purchase without generating competition. Therefore this mode of purchase should be resorted to only in unavoidable situations. Purchase through STI may be adopted when:

i) It is in the knowledge of the user department that only a particular firm is the manufacturer of the required eGovernance goods. The reason for arriving to this conclusion is to be recorded and approval of the competent authority obtained.

ii) In a case of emergency, the required eGovernance goods are necessarily to be purchased from a particular source subject to the reason for such decision being recorded and approval of the competent authority obtained.

iii) For standardization with an existing solution across the organization or buying consumables of an existing product which had been bought through a competitive processes (on the advice of a competent technical expert and approved by the competent authority), the required eGovernance goods are to be purchased only from a selected firm.

Note: Proprietary Article Certificate in the following form is to be provided by the Ministry / Department before procuring the eGovernance goods from a single source under the provision of sub-para (i) & (iii) above as applicable:

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1 The indented eGovernance goods are manufactured by M/s

2 ii) No other make or model is acceptable for the following reasons:

a) ..

b) ..

c) ..

3 iii) Concurrence of finance wing to the proposal has been obtained vide :

4 iv) Approval of the competent authority has been obtained vide : ..

(Signature with date and designation of the procuring officer)

Suitable tender document, containing required terms & conditions are to be issued to the selected firm for preparing and sending its quotation.

The question of late tender as well as elaborate process of receipt & opening of tender, as applicable for Open Tender and LTI will not apply in case of procurement through single tender enquiry.

The purchase STI may be made on the recommendations of a duly constituted Purchase Committee consisting of five members of having a mix of experts, academics and the department at an appropriate level as decided by the Head of Department. The committee will survey the market to ascertain the reasonableness of rate, quality and specifications and identify the appropriate supplier. Before recommending placement of the purchase order the members of the committee will jointly record a certificate as under:

"Certified that we , members of the purchase committee are jointly and individually satisfied that the eGovernance 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 eGovernance goods in question."

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4 EARNEST MONEY AND PERFORMANCE SECURITY

4.1 Earnest Money Deposit (EMD)

Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) is also known as Bid Security. To safeguard against a bidders withdrawing / altering its bid during the bid validity period in the case of advertised or limited tender enquiry, EMD is to be obtained from the bidders except those who are registered/empanelled with Central Purchase Organization. The bidders are required to furnish EMD along with their bids. Amount of EMD should ordinarily be between 2% to 5 % of the estimated value of the contract/Purchase Order. Depending on the type of eGovernance goods to be purchased, total value of purchase and urgency of requirement, the exact amount of EMD should be decided by the Ministry / Department and indicated in the tender enquiry document.

Submission of EMD is not necessary for a contract value upto Rs. 1 lakh5. The EMD may be accepted in the form of Demand Draft, Bankers Cheque or a Bank Guarantee in acceptable form from any of the commercial Banks, safeguarding the purchasers interest in all respects. (A model format of Bank Guarantee for obtaining EMD has been provided at Section 6.15 of Model RFP templates for Implementation Agencies http://deity.gov.in/content/rfp-standardization-model-rfps-and-guidance-notes).

The EMD should remain valid for a period of 45 days beyond the final tender validity period.

4.2 Forfeiture of EMD

EMD of a tenderer will be forfeited, if the tenderer withdraws or amends its tender or impairs or derogates from the tender in any respect within the period of validity of its tender. Further, if the successful tenderer fails to furnish the required performance security within the specified period, its EMD will be forfeited.

4.3 Refund of EMD


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EMD furnished by all unsuccessful tenderers should be returned to them without any interest whatsoever, at the earliest but not later than 30 days after conclusion of the tender process. EMD of the successful tenderer should be returned, without any interest whatsoever, after receipt of performance security from it as called for in the tender.

4.4 Performance Security

To ensure due performance of the contract, Performance Security is to be obtained from the successful bidder awarded the contract. Performance Security is to be obtained from every successful bidder irrespective of its registration status etc. Performance Security should be for an amount of five to ten percent of the value of the contract. Performance Security may be furnished in the form of a Demand Draft or Bank Guarantee from a Commercial bank in an acceptable form safeguarding the purchasers interest in all respects. Performance Security is to be furnished by a specified date (generally 21 days after notification of the award) and it should remain valid for a period of at least 60 days beyond the date of completion of all contractual obligations of the supplier, including warranty obligations. (A model format of Performance Bank Guarantee has been provided at Appendix III, Form I of Model RFP templates for Implementation Agencies http://deity.gov.in/content/rfp-standardization-model-rfps-and-guidance-notes). Submission of Performance Security is not necessary for a contract value upto Rs. 1 lakh.

4.5 Forfeiture of Performance Security

Performance security is to be forfeited and credited to the purchase organization in the event of a breach of contract by the supplier, in terms of the relevant contract.

4.6 Refund of Performance Security

Performance Security should be refunded to the supplier without any interest, whatsoever, after it duly performs and completes the contract in all respects but not later than 60 days of completion of all such obligations under the contract.

4.7 Verification of the Bank Guarantees

Bank Guarantees submitted by the tenderers / suppliers as EMD / Performance Security need to be immediately verified from the issuing Bank before acceptance.

4.8 Safe Custody of EMDs, Performance Securities & Other Instruments

Suitable mechanism for safe custody, etc. and monitoring of EMDs and Performance Securities and other Instruments should be evolved and implemented by each Ministry/Department. The Ministries/Departments shall also make institutional

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arrangements for taking all necessary actions on time for extension or encashment or refund of EMDs and Performance Securities, as the case may be. Monitoring should also include a monthly review of all Bank Guarantees and other instruments expiring after 3 months, along with a review of the progress of the corresponding contracts. Extension of Bank Guarantees and other instruments, where warranted, should be sought immediately and implemented within their validity period.

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5 DEFINING PRE-QUALIFICATION AND TECHNICAL EVALUATION CRITERION

5.1 Expression of Interest

The objective of issuance of EOI document is to shortlist a potential list of bidders who have the basic competency, capacity and understanding of the solution required by the Government. An EOI should be issued under the following typical circumstances:

Scope of work is not clear, hence, an EOI could help enter a process to define and refine it through discussions with potential Systems Implementation Agencies/System Integrators

Multiple solutions are possible and the Purchaser is not clear on the technology or solution. Hence Purchaser wants to conduct a market assessment for possible (related) Solutions, Technologies and Vendors

Budget estimates are unclear (or flexible) For all SI Contract where the value of the contract is more than INR 25 Lakhs

5.2 Pre-Qualification

At times, the Purchaser does not have sufficient time to carry out the EOI, in that case the

objectives of carrying EOI are largely met with having a Pre-Qualification in two Stage bidding.

5.3 Designing Pre-Qualification (PQ) / Eligibility Criteria

The Eligibility / Pre-Qualification (PQ) criteria set out in any EOI document basically aims to invite proposals from only the genuine contenders and solution providers. The criteria should be set so as to encourage competition and quality responses/bidding.

The guidelines to keep in mind when establishing a set of Eligibility Criteria are:

Ensure that the criteria/PQs or conditions to participate in the bidding process are flexible and practical; allowing international bidders too

PQs have direct and perceptible linkage with scope of work, projects financial worth and risk

PQs are focused towards quality of solution and bidder competence Prequalification criteria guidelines for different types of Vendors (software OEMs and

hardware OEMs should be considered separately) as many points requiring support, spare parts, manufacturing needs will be different.

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If the Government entity/Purchaser wishes to limit the number of suppliers responding to the EOI, in case the market assessment resulted in too many suppliers, then t