(1) In the public procurement, the purchases shall be made in a transparent, competitive and fair manner to secure best value for money, which shall enable the prospective bidders to formulate and send their competitive bids with confidence.
(2) To ensure transparency and fairness, the following criteria may be followed, namely:-
(a) The text of the bidding document shall be self-contained and comprehensive without any ambiguity and the bidding document shall contain -
(i) the criteria for eligibility of qualifications to be met by the bidders such as minimum level of experience, past performance, technical capability, manufacturing facilities and financial position and other related matters;
(ii) eligibility criteria for goods indicating any legal restrictions or conditions about the origin of goods and other related matters which may be required to be met by the successful bidder;
(iii) the procedure and the date, time and place for sending bids;
(iv) the terms of delivery;
(v) special terms affecting performance, if any.
(b) The bidders shall be given reasonable time to send their bids.
(c) The bids shall be opened in public and authorized representatives of the bidders shall be permitted to attend the bid opening.
(d) Bids received after the specified date and time for receipt of bids shall not be considered.
(e) The specifications of the required goods shall be clearly stated without any ambiguity so that the prospective bidders may send meaningful bids and in order to attract sufficient number of bidders, the specifications shall be broad based to the extent feasible.
(f) For determining responsiveness of bids, criteria and factors to be taken into account for evaluating the bids on common platform and the criteria for awarding the contract to the responsive lowest bidder shall be clearly indicated in the bidding document.
(g) Suitable provision for settlement of disputes, if any, emanating from the resultant contract, shall be kept in the bidding document.
(h) The bidding document shall clearly indicate that the resultant contract shall be interpreted under Indian laws.
(i) Bidders shall not be permitted to alter or modify their bids after expiry of the deadline for receipt of bids.
(j) (i) In the case of turn-key contracts or contracts of special nature for procurement of sophisticated and costly equipment, a suitable provision may be made in the bidding document(s) for pre-bid conference for clarifying issues and 28 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY [PART III—SEC. 4] clearing doubts, if any, about the specifications and other allied technical details of the plant, equipment and machinery projected in the bidding document.
(ii) The date, time and place of pre-bid conference shall be indicated in the bidding document and the date shall be sufficiently ahead of the bid opening date.
(k) (i) If a new item is being purchased by replacing the old one, a suitable clause is to be incorporated in the bidding document mentioning the buy back offer so that the prospective and interested bidders may formulate their bids accordingly.
(ii) The details of condition and value of the old item to be traded shall be clearly mentioned:
Provided that, provision shall also be kept in the bidding document to enable the purchaser to trade or not to trade the item while purchasing the new one.
(l) (i) Bids received shall be evaluated in terms of the conditions already incorporated in the bidding documents and no new condition which was not incorporated in the bidding documents shall be brought in for evaluation of the bids.
(ii) Determination of a bid’s responsiveness shall be based on the contents of the bid itself without recourse to extrinsic evidence.
(m) There shall not be negotiations with bidders after the opening of the bid:
Provided that negotiation with only the lowest evaluated responsive bidder, that is, L-1 may be held in specific circumstances if the same is found logical and justified in the financial interest of the University.
(n) In the rate contract system, where a number of firms are brought on rate contract for the same item, negotiations and counter offering of rates are permitted with the bidders.
(o) (i) Contract shall be awarded to the lowest evaluated bidder:
Provided that where the lowest acceptable bidder against ad-hoc requirement is not in a position to supply the full quantity required, the remaining quantity, as far as possible, be ordered from the next higher responsive bidder, that is, L-2 at the rates offered by the lowest responsive bidder, that is, L-1;
(ii) The guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission will be complied with.
(p) The name of the successful bidder awarded the contract shall be mentioned on the notice board or put on the University’s web site.
Maintenance contract