Common irregularities in Tendering process
- 1. Common irregularities in Tendering By AJAY KUMAR Ch. Manager(Excv)
- 2. Introduction Tendering is critical for fair and transparent procurement/works and services. Irregularities can compromise efficiency, increase costs, and create legal risks and a potential source of complaints.
- 3. Overview of Tendering Process Stage 1: Needs assessment and procurement planning Stage 2: Tender preparation and advertisement Stage 3: Bid submission and evaluation Stage 4: Award and contract execution Stage 5: Contract monitoring and closeout
- 4. Biased Needs Assessment: Inflated or manipulated scope to justify procurement. Tailored Technical Specifications: Favoring a particular supplier or contractor. Inadequate Market Research: Leads to overestimation or underestimation of costs. Improper Procurement Method Selection: Using single sourcing without justification. Real-World Impact: Can limit fair competition and lead to wastage of public funds.
- 5. Tender Preparation & Advertisement Irregularities (Stage 2) Lack of Public Advertisement: Issuing tenders through informal channels. Insufficient Bidding Periods: Not allowing reasonable time for proposal submission. Ambiguous Tender Documents: Creating confusion or reducing participation. Excessive Qualification Requirements: Designed to disqualify most bidders. Result: Reduced transparency and unfair advantage to selected bidders.
- 6. Bid Submission & Evaluation Irregularities (Stage 3) Late or Selective Acceptance of Bids: Accepting bids past deadline or rejecting compliant bids. Collusion Among Bidders: Artificial pricing, rotating bids. Inconsistent Evaluation: Using subjective criteria or changing benchmarks mid-process. Conflict of Interest: Evaluators linked to bidders or contractors
- 7. Contract Award Irregularities (Stage 4) Awarding to Non-Compliant Bidders: Overlooking key disqualifying criteria. Lack of Proper Approvals: Bypassing tender boards or oversight bodies. Unjustified Negotiation After Award: Favoritism or backdoor dealing. Failure to Notify Unsuccessful Bidders: Reduces transparency and opportunity for appeal.
- 8. Post-Award & Execution Irregularities (Stage 5) Unapproved Contract Variations: Changing terms, scope, or value without oversight. Poor Monitoring of Work or Services: Allowing poor-quality outputs or delays. Non-Enforcement of Penalties: Letting contractors off the hook for breaches. Fraudulent Invoicing: Billing for incomplete or non-existent deliverables.
- 9. Documentation and Transparency Issues Missing Tender Records: Evaluation sheets, approvals, communications not documented. Altered Documentation: Post-dated or modified bid entries. Opaque Decision-Making: No clear justification for selection or disqualification. Lack of Audit Trail: No accessible history of procurement process.
- 10. Red Flags to Watch For Unusual urgency or repeated extensions of tender periods. Only one or two bidders consistently win contracts. Frequent contract amendments or cost overruns. Lack of stakeholder involvement or independent review.
- 11. Consequences of Tendering Irregularities Legal: Investigations, penalties, and debarment. Financial: Cost escalations, budget overruns. Reputational: Loss of public trust, media backlash. Operational: Delayed or failed project implementation
- 12. Mitigation and Best Practices Establish clear procurement policies and guidelines. Conduct regular staff training and ethics workshops. Implement e-procurement systems for transparency. Engage independent observers in high-value tenders. Encourage whistleblower protections and reporting channels
- 13. Conclusion Irregularities undermine procurement integrity and project outcomes. Every stage of tendering must be transparent and well-documented. Commitment to best practices ensures value for money and public trust
- 14. Case study Copy and paste ( Electrical License) Not clear description ( for detail contact -----) Restrictive qualifying criteria ( only those bidder can bid who had done work of PSU or selective HEMM) Bill passed without work( cabin repairing) Procurement of fictitious item.(FFB) Procurement of Non-Standard items. ( Cling , Diesel additives, dust ) Not publishing NIT on all forums as per Manual.