Following are the general rules and guidelines applicable to all types of purchases to be made on behalf of the Institute:
1. APPROVAL OF PURCHASE
power to incur expenditure has been delegated.
required to be purchased is complete in all respects and that no such material is
available in stock.
2. MODE OF PURCHASE
in all respects, shall decide the mode of purchase and invite tenders/quotations
by adopting any one of the following modes of purchase. In deciding the mode of purchase in respect of imported items, the F.O.B. value shall be the criterion for applying the prescribed financial limit. Selection of suppliers should ensure a fair number of suitable vendors except in the case of a few proven core suppliers who can be invariably contacted to ensure timely supplies. The Institute may register as many suppliers as possible who will be in a position to meet the requirements of the Institute. For imported stores, however, the respective foreign manufacturers/suppliers and/or Indian agents shall be contacted.
3. OPEN TENDER/PUBLIC TENDER
3.1 Purchase shall normally be made by inviting Open Tenders in all cases where the estimated value of an item or items of similar nature covered by an indent to be purchased at a time exceeds Rs.10,00,000/-(Rupees Ten lakhs only).
3.2 The Institute may fix tender fees in respect of tender documents to be sold against public tenders invited and shall lay down suitable procedures in this regard keeping in view the estimated value of items to be purchased as well as the man-hours and materials spent in the preparation of tender specifications and drawings.
the mode of purchase even when the estimated value of an item or items of similar nature covered by an indent to the purchased at a time exceeds Rs.10.00 lakhs(Rupees Ten lakhs only) provided detailed justification for dispensing with the issue of Open Tender is recorded in the following circumstances;
cannot be met if Open Tenders are invited.
In such cases, depending upon the estimated value of items, the field should be covered adequately by contacting as many suppliers as possible.
4. LIMITED TENDER
of an item or items of similar nature covered by an indent to be purchased at a time exceeds Rs.20,000/- but does not exceed Rs.10.00 lakhs(Rupees Ten Lakhs). It shall, however, be ensured that the field is covered adequately by contacting as many suppliers as possible depending upon the estimated value of the item.
5. SINGLE TENDER
only a single source, e.g. where the items are spare parts, attachments, accessories etc. required for an existing equipment or the items of stores are the monopoly products of a single manufacturer, etc.
6. 'AB-INITIO' NEGOTIATION
6.1 The system of 'Ab-Initio' negotiation may be adopted with the prior approval of the Director of the Institute in exceptional circumstances, e.g. where there is no competition or where there is shortage of capacity or where it is in the interest of Institute to adopt this system. In case the value of the stores to be purchased exceeds Rs.20.00 lakhs, prior approval of the Executive Council shall be obtained.
forms including specifications, drawings and other allied details of the stores shall be forwarded to the supplier(s) concerned with instructions that they should go through the documents thoroughly and return it with an undertaking that they have fully studied and understood the requirements correctly and can meet the requirement. Techno-commercial negotiation (excluding price) shall be conducted with such of those suppliers who have agreed to meet the requirements by a committee consisting of the representative of Accounts, Registrar and the Indenting Officer. After holding the techno-commercial discussion with the supplier(s) concerned, the negotiating committee will draw up minutes of the meeting indicating the techno-commercial agreements reached with the supplier(s) (excluding the price) and get the minutes signed by all the members of the negotiating committee including the supplier's representatives who should be present at the meeting. The representatives of the suppliers who are present during the negotiation will be informed that they will be required to quote the price for the item in a sealed envelope. The due date and time for opening the price bid will be indicated in writing to the suppliers.
7. POST TENDER NEGOTIATION
7.1 Post Tender Negotiation should be discouraged except in respect of the following circumstances: -
(Here, if the number of technically suitable/acceptable offers are more than one, all such bidders shall be given an opportunity to furnish their revised price bid in a sealed envelope on a specified due date and time, without holding any negotiation)
have to be placed with more than one supplier and each of them has quoted
varying rates in their offer and the intention is to reduce the price gap.
8. RATE AND RUNNING CONTRACT/ANNUAL BULK SUPPLY
CONTRACT
which is not subject to appreciable fluctuation and in cases of common user items required by the Institute, annual bulk supply contracts based on Open Tender may be resorted for an appropriate period not exceeding two years at a time. After conclusion of annual bulk supply contracts with the approved suppliers, the Purchase Orders may be placed for annual bulk supply contract holding firms indicating the description of the items, quantity, price, percentage/quantum of statutory levies, payment terms, details of the consignee, etc. instead of placing individual purchase orders.
8.2 Where valid rate contracts are available, there would be no objection in making direct procurement from the rate contract holders by placing purchase orders provided, they are willing to make suppliers at the rate contract prices.
9. DISPENSATION OF TENDERING FORMALITIES
9.1 No tenders need be invited for the purchase of stores in respect of the following cases and purchase shall be made by adopting any one of the following modes depending upon the circumstances and the estimated value of items of stores covered by an indent.
10. CASH PURCHASE
10.1 When the value of an item or items of similar nature covered by an indent to be purchased at a time does not exceed Rs.1,000/- purchase shall be made by cash.
10.2 In the following types of cases, even though the value does not exceed Rs.1,000/- regular purchase order may be placed:-
11. TELEPHONIC QUOTATION
11.1 Where the value of an item or items of similar nature covered by an indent to be purchased at a time exceeds Rs.1,000/-(Rupees One Thousand only) but does not exceed Rs.20,000/-(Rupees Twenty Thousand only), quotations by telephone shall be obtained from at least five firms(unless the source of supply is less than five). If, after obtaining quotations by telephone in respect of the indents where estimated value of the item(s) is shown as Rs.20,000/- or below, the actual price payable for the items is found to exceed Rs.20,000/-, such indents will be processed afresh by the Purchase on Limited Tender basis.
11.2 Firms from whom telephonic quotations are obtained as stated above, shall be asked in writing to confirm that the quotation has been correctly recorded.
11.3 There shall, however, be no objection in inviting limited tenders instead of obtaining telephonic quotations wherever there are difficulties in processing purchases based on telephonic quotations, particularly in case of items of non-standard type and items not readily available, etc.
12. REPEAT ORDER
12.1 If an indent is received for an item or items of stores of identical description for which an earlier purchase order has been placed, fresh tendering action may be dispensed with and purchase made on repeat order basis, that is, either by enhancing the quantity in the earlier purchase order or by placing a fresh purchase order on repeat basis provided that:-
12.2. The Executive Council may delegate powers to the Director who shall exercise powers to authorize and approve deviations to the value limit, quantity limit and the time limit not exceeding 12 months from the date of the initial purchase order subject to condition that there is no downward trend in the prices of the items in the market after placing the initial purchase order and he is satisfied that it is in the public interest to place a repeat order rather than inviting fresh tenders against the indent raised by the Institute for similar items.
13. TWO-PART TENDERS
indent to be purchased at a time is Rs.1.00 crore and above, such indents shall be processed by adopting Two Part Tendering system. In respect of such of those indents where the estimated value is less than Rs.1.00 Crore but the indenting authority suggests processing of such indents on Two-part Tender basis due to the special/unfamiliar nature of the items needing detailed technical scrutiny of the offers before opening the Price Part of the tenders, such indents will also be processed by the Purchase Authority under Two-Part Tendering system. The Two-Part Tendering system can be dispensed with in respect of the following cases:-
14. PRE-AUDIT
financial implications where the value of the order after the amendment exceeds Rs.20.000/- shall be released by the Purchase Units unless these are pre-audited and certified to be in order by an authority at the appropriate level in the Accounts. However, in the case of financial commitment in respect of the purchase orders below the value of Rs.20,000/-, the authority concerned with the purchase will refer such cases after release of the purchase orders to the concerned Accounts section.
ensure, inter alia, that:-
16. PAYMENT OF BILLS
the mode and terms and conditions stipulated in the purchase order. Bills/invoices from the suppliers for payment against purchase orders placed shall be received by the paying authority as the case may be.
16.2 Besides all necessary checks, the Accounts Officer shall:-
to the purchase orders, receipt voucher raised by the stores unit and other relevant records/communications, and
tax, free issue materials supplied by the Institute, bank guarantee
for security deposit, advance/progress payment, performance bond,
etc. whenever asked for, are available before the payment is
released.
16.3 In respect of such of those purchase orders where the contractors make either excess supply or short supply not exceeding plus/minus (+/-) 10% of the quantity ordered in each purchase order, the paying authority will make payment to the extent of the quantity actually supplied by the contractors without a formal amendment to the purchase order subject to -
17. DEVIATIONS
purchase procedure including standard terms and conditions of contract,
provided, however, that the reasons for such deviations are recorded in
writing and the Director is satisfied of the necessity for such deviations.
These deviations should however be brought to the notice of the Executive Council for information.
18. SAVING CLAUSE
General instructions issued by the Department of Atomic Energy from time
to time, shall be followed.