Para 5.3.5 — CONSULT_MANUAL

2. Description of Services: Including a well-defined Description of Services ensures both parties have a clear understanding of the expectations, deliverables, and quality standards. It also provides a framework for monitoring performance and handing any potential issues that may arise during the consultancy contract’s execution. It should include the ToR and the consultant’s proposal as finalised during the negotiations. It should include the following:

a) Description of the specific tasks, activities, or deliverables that the consultant will provide. This should include all the major components of the consultancy work. b) Phases of Work: If the consultancy service involves multiple phases (e.g., inception, implementation, evaluation), these should be defined, with milestones where applicable. c) Outputs/Deliverables: Specify the tangible or intangible outputs the consultant is expected to deliver, such as reports, designs, strategies, etc. d) Objectives and Goals as mentioned in the ToR e) Methodology as proposed by the consulted and as modified during negotiation f) Timelines and Deadlines, as agreed. g) Roles and Responsibilities, as per ToR and Proposal of the consultant. h) Quality Standards and Acceptance Criteria as per RfP. i) Resources and Support as per the RfP.

3. Conflict of Interest: The consultant shall not receive any other remuneration from any source in connection with the same assignment except as provided under the contract. Consultants assisting a client in privatisation of public assets shall neither purchase nor advise

5.3.5 Proposed form of contract 1. The contract includes accepted ToR methodology, general and specific conditions of contract, etc. wherever possible, the Procuring Entity shall use the Standard Form of Contract. The general conditions of contract shall include all such conditions which are common in nature and not project specific. Such conditions include clauses pertaining to sub-contracting, methods of payment, termination and extension of contracts, arbitration, variation in quantities, indemnity and insurance, force majeure, conflict of interest, compliance to local laws and taxes and duties etc. The project specific conditions include clauses relating to the assignment in hand. These clauses should be carefully developed to protect the interest of the Procuring Entity.

5.4 Uploading of Tender Documents: Mandatory e-Publishing (Rule 159 of GFR 2017)

Manual for Procurement of Consultancy Services, Second Edition, 2025 purchasers of such assets. Similarly, consultants hired to prepare ToR for an assignment shall not be hired for the assignment in question and shall not be in a conflict-of-interest situation as described in the RfP/contract.

4. Professional Liability: The consultant is expected to carry out its/his assignment with due diligence and in accordance with the prevailing standards of the profession. As the consultant's liability to the Procuring Entity will be governed by the applicable law, the contract need not deal with this matter unless the parties wish to limit this liability. If they do so, they should ensure that:

(a) there must be no such limitation in case of the consultant's gross negligence or wilful misconduct;

(b) the consultant's liability to the Procuring Entity may, in no case, be more than a multiplier (say 3 times) of the total value of the contract to be indicated in the RfP and special conditions of contract (the multiplier will depend on each specific case); and

(c) any such limitation may deal only with the consultant's liability toward the Procuring Entity and not with the consultant's liability toward third parties.

5. Staff Substitution of Key Professional: During an assignment where key professionals are named in the contract, if substitution is necessary (for example, because of ill health or because a staff member proves to be unsuitable, or the member is no longer working with the consultant), the consultant shall propose other staff of at equivalent or higher credentials for approval by the Procuring Entity. The RfP/contract must specifically make provision for terms and conditions under which the staff can be replaced, about the remuneration to be paid, and so on. Please refer to para 10.2.5-2 below, to understand the system of remuneration deduction for substitutions.

6. Applicable Law and Settlement of Disputes: The contract shall include provisions dealing with the applicable law, which should be the law applicable in India and the forum for the settlement of disputes – applicable Arbitration Clause and procedures.

7. Training or Transfer of Knowledge: If the assignment includes an important component of training or transfer of knowledge to the Ministries/ department staff, the ToR shall indicate the objectives, nature, scope, and goals of the training programme, including details on trainers and trainees, skills to be transferred, timeframe, and monitoring and evaluation arrangements. The cost of the training programme shall be explicitly stated in the consultant's contract and in the budget for the assignment.

5.4.1 ePublishing of Tender Documents 1. It is mandatory for all Ministries/Departments of the Central Government, their attached and subordinate offices, and autonomous/ statutory bodies to publish their tender enquiries, corrigenda thereof and details of bid awards online on the Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) and also on their website. These instructions apply to all Tender Enquiries, Requests for Proposals, Requests for Expressions of Interest, Notice for pre-Qualification/ Registration or any other notice inviting bids or proposals in any form whether they are advertised, issued to limited number of parties or to a single party. These instructions would not apply to Purchase of goods/ services without quotations or Purchase of goods/ services by purchase committee.

5.4.2 Amendment of Tender Documents (Rule 173

(iii) of GFR 2017) At any time prior to the date of submission of bids, the procuring entity may, Suo-moto or in response to a clarification sought by a prospective bidder (directly or in pre-bid conference), amend tender documents by issuing a corrigendum. Copies of such amendment / modification should be uploaded on the ePublishing portal and Procuring Entity’s own website. In case of off-line tenders, the copies of such amendment/ modification are to be simultaneously despatched, free of cost, by registered/speed post/courier/e-mail, to all the parties who have already purchased the tender documents and copies of such amendments are also to be prominently attached in the unsold sets of the tender documents (which are available for sale). When the amendment/modification changes the requirement significantly and /or when there is not much time left for the bidders to respond to such amendments, and prepare a revised tender, the time and date of submission of tenders are also to be suitably extended (not less than 3 days) as per para 5.4.3 below.

2. Individual cases where confidentiality is required, for reasons of national security, would be exempted from the mandatory e-publishing requirement. The decisions to exempt any case on the said grounds should be approved by the Secretary of the Ministry/ Department with the concurrence of the concerned Financial Advisor. In the case of autonomous bodies and Statutory bodies’ approval of the head of the body with the concurrence of the head of the finance should be obtained in each such case. Statistical information on the number of cases in which exemption was granted and the value of the concerned contract should be intimated on a Quarterly basis to the Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure.