Para 3.3.3 — CONSULT_MANUAL

3.3.3 Code of Integrity for Public Procurement (CIPP) 1. Public procurement is perceived to be prone to corruption and ethical risks. To mitigate this, the officials of Procuring Entities and the bidders/ suppliers/ contractors/ consultants/ service providers involved in procurement process must abide by the following Code of Integrity for Public Procurement (CIPP). All Procuring officials may be asked to sign declarations to this effect periodically and in various Procurement decisions (including Need Assessment). The bidders/ suppliers/ contractors/ consultants/ service providers should be asked to sign a declaration for abiding by a Code of Integrity for Public Procurement in registration applications and in bid documents, with a warning that, in case of any

Manual for Procurement of Consultancy Services, Second Edition, 2025 transgression of this code, its name is not only liable to be removed from the list of registered suppliers/ contractors/ consultants/ service providers, but it would be liable for other punitive actions such as cancellation of contracts, banning and blacklisting or action in Competition Commission of India, and so on. (Rule 175 (2) of GFR 2017).

2. Code of Integrity for Public Procurement: Procuring authorities as well as bidders, suppliers, contractors, consultants, and service providers should observe the highest standard of ethics and should:

a) not indulge in the following prohibited practices, either directly or indirectly, at any stage during the procurement process or during execution of resultant contracts: i) “Corrupt practice”: making offers, solicitation or acceptance of bribe, rewards or gifts or any material benefit, in exchange for an unfair advantage in the procurement process or to otherwise influence the procurement process or contract execution; ii) “Fraudulent practice”: any omission or misrepresentation that may mislead or attempt to mislead so that financial or other benefits may be obtained, or an obligation avoided. This includes making false declaration or providing false information for participation in a tender process or to secure a contract or in execution of the contract; iii) “Anti-competitive practice”: any collusion, bid rigging or anti-competitive arrangement, or any other practice coming under the purview of The Competition Act, 2002, between two or more bidders, with or without the knowledge of the Procuring Entity, that may impair the transparency, fairness, and the progress of the procurement process or to establish bid prices at artificial, non-competitive levels; iv) “Coercive practice”: harming or threatening to harm, persons, or their property to influence their participation in the procurement process or affect the execution of a contract; v) “Conflict of interest”: any personal, financial, or business relationship between the bidder and any personnel of the procuring entity who are directly or indirectly related to the procurement or execution process of the contract, which can affect the decision of the procuring entity directly or indirectly; vi) “Undue Advantage”: improper use of information obtained by the bidder from the procuring entity with an intent to gain an unfair advantage in the procurement process or for personal gain. This also includes if the bidder (or his allied firm24) provided services for the need assessment/ procurement planning 25 of the tender process in which he is participating; vii) “Obstructive practice”: materially impede the Procuring Entity’s investigation into allegations of one or more of the above mentioned prohibited practices either by deliberately destroying, falsifying, altering; or by concealing of evidence material to the investigation; or by making false statements to investigators and/or by threatening, harassing or intimidating any party to prevent it from disclosing its knowledge of matters relevant to the investigation or from pursuing

Chapter 3: Participation of Bidders and Governance Issues the investigation; or by impeding the Procuring Entity’s rights of audit or access to information;

b) proactively disclose26, whether asked or not, in a tender document: i) Procuring authorities 27 as well as bidders, suppliers, contractors, and consultants/ service providers, are obliged under Code of Integrity for Public Procurement to suo-moto proactively declare any conflicts of interest (coming under the definition mentioned above – pre-existing or as and as soon as these arise at any stage) in any procurement process or execution of contract. Failure to do so would amount to violation of this code of integrity; and ii) All bidder must declare any previous transgressions of such a code of integrity with any entity in any country during the last three years or of being debarred by any other Procuring Entity. Failure to do so would amount to violation of this code of integrity; iii) The Contractor/Consultant must disclose any commissions or fees that may have been paid or are to be paid to agents, representatives, or commission agents concerning the selection process or execution and performance of the Contract. The information disclosed must include the name and address of the agent, representative, or commission agent, the amount and currency, and the purpose of the commission or fee in a format given in the Tender Document.

3. Professionalism and Unfair Competitive Advantage: a) Professionalism: The consultant is required to provide professional, objective, and impartial advice, at all times holding the Procuring Entity’s interest paramount above his/ its own corporate interests and above any consideration for future work, strictly avoiding any conflicts of interest. b) Unfair Competitive Advantage: Fairness and transparency in the selection process require that the consultants or their affiliates competing for a specific assignment do not derive an unfair competitive advantage from having provided consultancy services related to the assignment in question. Such unfair competitive advantage is best avoided by full transparency and by providing equal opportunity so that all firms or individuals interested or involved have full information about a service assignment and its nature, scope, and background information. To that end, the request for proposals and all information should be made available to all short-listed consultants simultaneously. c) Therefore, without limitation on the generality of the foregoing, and unless stated otherwise in the RfP document, Consultants (including its experts and sub— consultants) or its allied firm28 shall not be eligible for any assignment that, i) by its nature, may be in conflict with another assignment of the consultant or its allied firm for the same or for another Procuring Entity.

4. Punitive Provisions: Without prejudice to and in addition to the rights of the Procuring Entity to other penal provisions as per the bid documents or contract, if the Procuring Entity concludes that a (prospective) bidder/contractor/ Supplier/ consultant/ service provider, directly or through an agent, has violated this code of integrity in competing for the contract or in executing a contract, the Procuring Entity may take appropriate measures including one or more of the following:

Manual for Procurement of Consultancy Services, Second Edition, 2025 ii) A Consultant or any of its affiliates/ allied firms that has been engaged by the client to provide goods, works, or non-consultancy services for a project, shall be disqualified from providing Consultancy service resulting from or directly related to those goods, works, or non-Consultancy services. iii) Conversely, a Consultant or any of its affiliates/ allied firms hired to provide consultancy services for the preparation or implementation of a project, shall be disqualified from subsequently providing goods or works or non-consultancy services resulting from or directly related to the consultancy services for such preparation or implementation;

a) if his bids are under consideration in any procurement i) Forfeiture or encashment of bid security; ii) calling off of any pre-contract negotiations, and; iii) rejection and exclusion of the bidder from the procurement process b) if a contract has already been awarded i) Cancellation of the relevant contract and recovery of compensation for loss incurred by the Procuring Entity; ii) Forfeiture or encashment of any other security or bond relating to the procurement; iii) Recovery of payments made by the Procuring Entity along with interest thereon at the prevailing rate c) Provisions in addition to above: i) Removal from the list of registered consultants and debarment of the bidder from participation in future procurements of the Procuring Entity for a period for a period not exceeding two years; ii) In case of anti-competitive practices, information for further processing may be filed by the Competent Authority, with the Competition Commission of India; iii) Initiation of suitable disciplinary or criminal proceedings against any individual or staff found responsible.