Chapter II Chapter II

Regulation of Procurement

Procurement other than by tender prohibited:

Procuring Authority to follow procedure Procuring Authority to follow procedure: No tender shall be invited, processed or accepted by the Procuring Authority after the commencement of this Act except in accordance with the procedure laid down in this Act or the rules made thereunder.

Tender Bulletin Officers:

1. (1) The Government may, by notification, appoint an officer not below the rank of a Deputy Secretary to the Government in concerned department to be the State Tender Bulletin Officer for the State in respect of that department where the procurement of that department covers more than one district.
2. (2) Deputy Commissioner of the District shall be the District Bulletin Officer.

Publication of Tender Bulletin:

1. (1) The State Tender Bulletin Officer, or as the case may be, the District Tender Bulletin Officer shall on receipt of intimation relating to notice of invitation of tender from tender inviting authority or information relating to details of acceptance of tender under Section 13 or rejection of tender under Section 14 from the tender Accepting Authority, publish the same within the prescribed time, the in the State Tender Bulletin or in District Tender Bulletin, as the case may be.
2. (2) The Tender Bulletin shall be made available for sale in the office of the Tender Bulletin Officer and in such other places as the Tender Bulletin Officer deems fit to make the same easily available.

Tender Inviting Authority and Tender Accepting Authority: The Procuring Authority may, by order, appoint-

1. (1) One or more officers or a Committee of Officers to be the Tender Inviting Authority for any specified area, specified procurement or specified class of goods or services; and
2. (2) One or more officers or a Committee of Officers to be the Tender Accepting Authority for any specified area or Specified Procurement, specified class of goods and services; Provided that where a multi-member Committee is already appointed by any Procuring Authority for discharging the functions of accepting tenders, such Committee shall be deemed to be a Tender Accepting Authority appointed under this Act.

Tender Scrutiny Committee: The Tender Accepting Authority shall constitute a Tender Scrutiny Committee consisting of such person or persons as it may deem fit to scrutinise tenders if the cost of goods and/or services is above rupees 20 lakhs.

Opening of Tender:

1. (1) The Procuring Authority may authorize either the Tender Inviting Authority or the Tender Accepting Authority or any other Officer to open the tenders and draw up a list of Tenderers responding to the notice inviting tender, in each case.
2. (2) The Authority or, as the case may be, the officer referred to in sub-section(l) shall open the tender, draw up a list of tenderers in the prescribed manner and unless it is also the Tender Accepting Authority, forward the tenders along with the list of tenderers, to the Tender Accepting Authority.

Duties of Tender Inviting Authority:

1. (1) It shall be the duty of every Tender Inviting Authority:-
   • (a) to take out notice inviting tenders at the behest of the Procuring Authority in the prescribed manner.
   • (b) to communicate the notice inviting tenders by marking a copy thereof to the Tender Bulletin Officer concerned immediately after issue of the notice.
   • (c) to cause publication of notice inviting tenders in the prescribed manner; and
   • (d) to supply the Schedule of Rates and Tender Documents to every intending tenderer who had applied to get such documents.
2. (2) The Tender Inviting Authority shall take out notices, communications and publications required to be taken out under this section in such form, in such manner, by such mode and at such time and interval as may be prescribed and different manners and mode of publication may be prescribed for different procurements depending on the value of the procurement.
3. (3) The Tender Inviting Authority shall collect all the details received in response to the notice inviting tender, within the time stipulated and unless it is itself authorised to open the tender shall compile and forward all the tenders received to the Authority or Officer authorised to open the tenders.

Acceptance of Tender: The Tender Accepting Authority shall, after following such procedure as may be prescribed pass order accepting the tender and shall communicate the information relating to acceptance of tender together with a comparative analysis and reasons for accepting of tender to the Procuring Authority and the Tender Bulletin Officer; Provided that where the Tender Accepting Authority consists of a single officer who is due to retire within the next six months, from the date fixed for the acceptance for tender, he shall not act to accept the tender without obtaining prior approval of the Procuring Authority; Provided further that subject to such general or special order as may be issued by the Government from time to time, the Tender Accepting Authority may before passing order accepting a tender negotiate with lowest tenderer only in public interest so that the financial implication is mostly minimized.

General rejection of tenders:

1. (1) The Tender Accepting Authority may at any time before passing an order of acceptance under Section 13 reject all the tenders on the ground of changes in the scope of procurement, failure of anticipated financial resources accidents, disasters or any other grounds as may be prescribed which would render the procurement unnecessary or impossible and report the same to the Procuring Authority.
2. (2) The Procuring Authority shall thereafter communicate the fact of the rejection under this section to all the Tenderers and also cause the same to be published in the Tender Bulletin.

Power to give directions: It shall be competent for the Government to give appropriate directions to the Procuring Authority or the Authorities under the Act in order to secure and maintain transparency at any stage of the process of procurement, and it shall be the duty of the Procuring Authority or such authority to comply with the directions.

, Appeal;

1. (1) Any tenderer aggrieved by an order passed by the Tender Accepting Authority other than the Government under Section 13 may appeal to the prescribed authority within thirty days from the date of receipt of the order: Provided that the prescribed authority as under sub-section(1), may, in its discretion, allow further time not exceeding thirty days for preferring any such appeal, if it is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal in time.
2. (2) The prescribed authority as under sub-section
3. (1) may after giving opportunity of being heard to both the parties pass such order thereon as it deems fit and such order shall be final.
4. (3) The prescribed authority as under sub-section
5. (1) shall as far as possible dispose of the appeal within thirty days from the date of filing thereof.

Power to obtain information: Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in any other law for the time being in force, the Governor may with a view to ensuring transparency call for and obtain, from any authority under the Act, any information relating to any matter in the process of procurement.

Power to call for records: The Governor may, at any time, with a view to ensuring transparency in the procurement process call upon any authority under the Act :- i) to produce records relating to invitation, processing and acceptance of tenders; ii) to furnish the tender document, estimates/statements account or statistics relating to such tenders; and iii) to furnish report on any specific point incidental to the procurement.