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Govt no to additional performance security on abnormally low bids
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SME Times News Bureau | 24 Nov, 2020
The government has decided not to seek additional performance security
on abnormally low bids received on government contracts to provide
relief to contractors already facing liquidity issues in the wake of the
ongoing pandemic.
The finance ministry has asked all government
ministries and departments not to ask for additional security deposit or
bank guarantees in cases of low bids unless there is a compelling
reason to do so.
Even in such cases, performance guarantee
deposit should be taken only after approval from higher authority and
properly assigning reasons, the ministry said in a recent circular on
the issue.
Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan 3.0 announced
earlier this month the government has relaxed regulations on earnest
money deposit (EMD) and performance security on government tenders and
reduced performance security on contracts to 3 per cent from a level
5-10 per cent now to boost construction and infrastructure development.
The
relaxation from higher performance security on lower bids now will help
contractors facing acute financial crunch on account of slowdown in
economy due to the pandemic and prevent delays in execution of projects.
The
industry had earlier represented that higher guarantee being sought on
low bids may affect the ability of contractors to bid in tenders and
hence reduce competition.
The finance ministry has noted that
there is no provision of higher security deposit/ bank guarantee in
general financial rule for procurement by government departments. So, it
had said that no provision should be made unless approved by higher
authorities.
The ministry has said that its instruction will be
applicable for all kinds of procurements viz. Goods, Consultancy, Works,
non-consulting Services etc.
As per the Manual for Procurement
of Goods 2017 issued by the expenditure Department, an Abnormally Low
Bid is one in which the bid price, in combination with other elements of
the Bid, appears so low that it raises material concerns as for the
capability of the bidder to perform the contract at the offered price.
Procuring Entity in such cases seek written clarifications from the
bidder, inctuding detailed price analyses of its bid price in relation
to scope, schedule, allocation of risks and responsibilities, and any
other requirements of the bids document. If, after evaluating the price
analyses, Procuring Entity determines that the bidder has substantially
failed to demonstrate its capability to deliver the contract at the
offered price, the Procuring Entity may reject the bid/ proposal.
However,
the finance ministry has said it would not be advisable to fix a
normative percentage below the estimated cost, which would be
automatically be considered as an abnormally low bid. It has said that
due care should be taken while formulating the specifications at the
time of preparation of bid document so as to have a safeguard against
the submission of abnormally low bid from the bidder. This would also
prevent departments from seeking additional performance security at
later stage.
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