Documentary record of procurement proceedings and of communications

(1) The procuring entity shall maintain a record of its procurement proceedings, which shall include the following, namely:- (a) documents pertaining to determination of need for procurement under section 5; (b) description of the subject matter of the procurement under section 12; (c) statement of the reason for choice of a procurement method other than open competitive bidding under sub-section (4) of section 29; (d) particulars of the participating bidders; (e) requests for clarifications and any responses thereto including during pre-bid conferences; (f) bid prices and other financial terms; (g) summary of the evaluation of bids; (h) details of any appeal under section 38, and the related decisions; (i) any other information or record as may be prescribed. (2) Any document, notification, decision or other information generated in the course of a procurement, including in connection with appeals under section 38 or in the course of a meeting, or forming part of the record of the procurement process, shall be in a form that provides a record of the content of the information and is accessible so as to be usable for subsequent reference. (3) Subject to the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (Central Act No. 22 of 2005) or of any other law for the time being in force relating to retention of records, the procuring entity shall retain the documentary record indicated in sub-sections (1) and (2), for a reasonable period after the expiry of the procurement process or procurement contract, as the case may be, so as to enable audit or such other review.