(1) All essential information which a bidder needs for submitting a responsive bid shall be clearly specified in the bidding document so as to enable all prospective bidders to participate with their responsive competitive bids as per sub-section (3) of section 20 of the Act. The bidding documents shall have the following parts or sections:- 24
(a) Notice Inviting Bids;
(b) Instructions to Bidders;
(c) Bid Data Sheet;
(d) Qualification and Evaluation criteria;
(e) Bidding Forms;
(f) Conditions of contract and contract forms;
(g) Any other document or part that may be necessary.
(2) The bidding documents shall include the following, namely:-
(a) instructions for preparing bids;
(b) the criteria and procedures that shall be applied for ascertaining the qualifications of bidders;
(c) the requirements as to documentary evidence or other information that must be submitted by bidder as proof of its qualifications, tax clearances, registrations, etc.;
(d) a detailed description of the subject matter of the procurement including, but not limited to, technical specifications, plans, drawings and designs if relevant, the quantity of the goods, any incidental services required to be performed like installation, maintenance, training, the location where the goods are to be delivered, the work is to be executed or the services are to be provided and the required time- schedules thereof, if any;
(e) the detailed procedure for presentation, opening, examination and evaluation of bids, minimum requirement in respect of the technical, quality and performance characteristics that bids must meet in order to be considered responsive, and the criteria to be used by the procuring entity in evaluation of bids for determining the successful bid including any provision for preference due or any criteria other than price that shall be used indicating the relative weight of such criteria;
(f) the terms and conditions of the procurement contract or the rate contract, to the extent they are already known to the procuring entity, and the contract or agreement form, if any, to be signed by the parties;
(g) if alternatives to the characteristics of the goods, works or services, contractual terms and conditions or other requirements set forth in the bidding documents are permitted, a statement to that effect, and a description of the manner in which alternative bids are to be evaluated and 25 compared;
(h) if bidders are permitted to submit bids for only a portion of the goods, works or services to be procured, a clear description of the portion or portions for which bids may be submitted;
(i) the manner in which the bid price is to be formulated and expressed, including a statement as to whether the price is to cover elements other than the cost of the goods, works or services themselves, such as any applicable transportation and insurance charges, customs duties and taxes, etc;
(j) the price for the bidding documents, pre-qualification documents or registration documents shall be fixed keeping in view the value of the bid and considering its preparation, publicity and delivery costs;
(k) all requirements of the procuring entity with respect to the issuer, the nature, form, amount and other terms and conditions of bid security to be provided by bidders submitting bids as well as the required securities such as labour and material bonds and the amount of performance security for the performance of the procurement contract or the rate contracts, if any, that is to be provided or deposited by the bidder who enters into the procurement contract, including securities such as labour or materials bonds;
(l) the manner, place and deadline for the submission of bids;
(m) the means by which, bidders may seek clarifications of the bidding documents and a statement as to whether the procuring entity intends to convene a meeting of bidders;
(n) the period of time during which bids shall remain valid;
(o) the place, time and date for the opening of bids;
(p) references to the Act, these rules and other laws and regulations directly pertinent to the procurement proceedings where felt required by the procuring entity, provided that the omission of any such reference shall not constitute any ground for appeal or liability on the part of the procuring entity;
(q) the name, designation, address and e-mail of one or more officers of the procuring entity, who are authorized to communicate directly with and to receive communications directly from bidders in connection with the procurement proceedings without the intervention of any intermediary;
(r) all commitments required to be made by the bidder beyond the procurement contract, such as commitments relating to the transfer of technology, knowhow, maintenance or maintenance training, etc;
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(s) reference to the right provided to appeal against an unlawful act or decision or procedure followed by the procuring entity in relation to the procurement proceedings;
(t) a statement to the effect that the procuring entity reserves the right to cancel bid proceedings and reject all bids at any time;
(u) formalities that shall be required to be completed once a bid has been accepted before a procurement contract or rate contract is entered into including, where applicable, that of execution of a written procurement contract or requirement of approval by a higher authority or the State Government; and
(v) Any other requirement laid down by the procuring entity in conformity with the Act and these rules relating to the preparation and submission of bids and other aspects of the procurement proceedings like detailed project report, concession agreement, design, plans, etc.
(3) When it is decided with the approval of the competent authority to replace an existing old item with a new and better version on a ‘buy back’ or similar procedure the procuring entity may trade the existing old item while purchasing the new one provided the procuring entity shall incorporate a suitable clause for the purpose so that the prospective and interested bidders can formulate their bids accordingly. The procuring entity shall also decide the time as well as the mode of handing over the old item to the successful bidder depending on the value, type and condition of the old item to be traded and incorporate suitable provisions thereof in the bidding document. Further, provision shall also be kept in the bidding document to enable the procuring entity either to trade or not to trade the item while purchasing the new one.
(4) Subject to these rules and the payment of price for the bidding documents if any, the procuring entity shall provide the bidding documents to every bidder who responds to the invitation to bids in accordance with the procedures and requirements specified therein. If pre-qualification, empanelment or registration proceedings had been previously engaged in and completed, the procuring entity shall make available a set of bidding documents to every bidder that has been pre-qualified or empanelled on payment of the price charged for the document.
(5) Standard Bidding Documents (SBDs) :-
(i) In terms of sub-section (4) of section 20 of the Act, the State Government shall, from time to time, notify Standard Bidding Documents as model bidding documents for the various procuring entities including Departments, Autonomous Councils, Authorities, Boards, Undertakings, Agencies, Corporations, etc., for the different kinds of procurement like works, goods and services or for different types or value ranges of procurement by the 27 various procurement methods prescribed in the Act as may be required.
(ii) The procuring entities shall, for the procurement under its consideration, prepare specific bidding document based on the notified Standard Bid Document for the kind, type, value range and procurement method. The standard provisions in the SBD shall be used without any alteration. Any modification to suit a unique requirement of the specific procurement in these documents may be done through variable sections such as Special Instructions to Bidders or Special Conditions of Contract or any such section, named otherwise.
(iii) In case a notified SBD needs modification to suit special circumstances of a specific procurement, the procuring entity, before making any such modification, shall obtain the approval of the Head of the concerned Administrative Department which may be accorded with the prior concurrence of the Finance Department but no such approval shall be accorded ex post facto:
Provided, where a relevant SBD has not yet been notified by the State Government, procuring entity may either use an existing SBD or, under intimation to the State Procurement Facilitation Cell, develop its own SBD and after obtaining the approval from the Head of the Administrative Department which may be accorded with the concurrence of the Financial Advisor.
(iv) Before issuing a Notice Inviting Bids, the procuring entity shall ensure that the relevant bidding documents specific to the procurement in question are prepared as prescribed herein and are kept ready for distribution on the date of issue of such notice inviting the bids.
(v) Notice Inviting Bids (NIB):-
(a) A procuring entity shall invite bids in Open Competitive Bidding and two stage bidding, or pre-qualification or registration of bidders by issuing a Notice Inviting Bids (NIB) to be published in the State Public Procurement Portal. In case of Open Competitive Bidding and two-stage bidding with value below the mandatory e-procurement threshold, if the NIB is not published on the SPPP, an abridged notice shall be published in newspapers of wide and adequate circulation wherein the address where details and bidding documents shall be made available must be mentioned.
(b) An invitation to bid published on the State Public Procurement Portal shall contain, at least, the following information, namely:-
(i) the name and address of the procuring entity including e-mail 28 address;
(ii) a summary of the terms and conditions of the procurement or rate contract to be entered into including the nature, quantity, time and place of delivery of the goods to be supplied, the works to be executed, or the services to be provided;
(iii) description of the subject matter of procurement;
(iv) whether the bid procedure shall be conducted in a single stage or two stages and whether it is to be presented in one envelopor in two envelopes;
(v) the criteria and procedure that shall be adopted for evaluating qualification of bidders;
(vi) the place from where the bidding documents can be obtained or downloaded and the procedure thereof;
(vii) the price of the bidding documents and the mode of payment for the exact amount of bid security and the forms in which the bid security is to be furnished;
(viii) the manner, place and deadline for the submission of bids;
(ix) right of the procuring entity to cancel the bid process and reject any or all the bids;
(x) the time, date and place of opening of bids;
(xi) items of procurement that are reserved for a specific category of bidders, if any;
(xii) any other important information relating to the procurement;
(xiii) the price and /or purchase preference that shall be applicable, if any.
(c) The Notice Inviting Bids shall simultaneously be published in an abridged form in at least two newspapers, one each in Vernacular and English, of sufficiently wide circulation for ensuring maximum competition and indicating therein at least the type and subject matter of procurement in brief, the date and time for submission of bids and the addresses of the websites, etc. where details shall be available. The invitations for bids for more than one subject matter of procurement 29 may be published in one Notice.
(d) To ensure competition, attention of all likely bidders like registered bidders, past suppliers or contractors, may be invited through email and SMS alerts, etc., and the State Public Procurement Portal shall be programmed to generate such alerts automatically.
(6) Time Frame for submission of bids and minimum modes of Publication:-
(a) The timeframe for submission of bids in response to the Notice Inviting Bids and the minimum modes of publication of the Notice Inviting Bids for procurement of goods and services shall be as specified in the Schedules which shall be notified by the Finance Department subsequent to the notification of these rules :
Provided that, in appropriate cases, the procuring entity may, with the approval of the Head of the concerned Administrative Department relax the period for submission of bids specified therein.
(b) The time frame for submission of bids in response to the Notice Inviting Bids and the minimum modes of publication of notice invitation of bids forprocurement of Works shall beas specified in the Schedules which shall be notified by the Finance Department subsequent to the notification of these rules :
Provided that, in appropriate cases, the procuring entity may, with the approval of the Head of the concerned Administrative Department relax the period for submission of bid specified therein.
(c) In case of International Competitive Bidding in which the bid notice is to be addressed to international bidders, the Notice Inviting Bids shall additionally be published by using suitable media that attract international responses. This may include circulation of Notice Inviting Bids to the Indian Embassies abroad, foreign Embassies in India, international trade journals, etc. The period for submission of bid from the date of first publication of Notice Inviting Bid shall be forty five days in case of International Competitive Bidding.
(d) In emergent conditions, the procuring entity may, after duly recording the reasons, grounds and nature of the emergency, reduce the period for submission of bids from the date of the last publication of Notice Inviting Bids, to not less than half of the period specified in the Schedules which shall be notified by the Finance Department subsequent to the notification of these rules .