Para 5.4.3 — CONSULT_MANUAL

2. Auto-Extension of Bids – in case of lack of Response: The eProcurement portal/ GeM should not provide anybody, including the Procuring Entity, with the bid count before the tender opening time, even at their request. The eProcurement portal/ GeM may permit Procuring Entity to input minimum number of bids considered sufficient and pre-specified number of days for automatic extension of bid opening (ordinarily not less than 7 days) at the time of tender upload. The system shall declare in the tender details that in case of low competition (without specifying the number), the tender closing time shall be automatically extended by specified number of days. If bids received till the bid opening time are less than the specified minimum bids, the system should automatically extend the tender opening by specified number of days without seeking any input from or sharing any information with anyone, including the Procuring Entity. Purchaser and bidders shall only be informed that due to less competition, the tender closing time has been extended up to (date and time). However, this automatic extension of bid opening shall be done only once, not repeatedly. If a Procuring Entity wants to go ahead even with low competition (e.g., due to urgency), they may mention ‘one’ as minimum bid. So that if no bid is received, the tender is automatically extended, otherwise not. Procuring entity is free to cancel and retender the procurement after autoextension. GeM and eProcurement portals shall update their systems accordingly.

5.4.3 Extension of Deadline of Bid Submission 1. To give sufficient time to bidders to prepare and submit their bids, the Procuring entity may suo-moto or based on justifiable request of bidder

(s) or due to significant modification of tender documents (as per para 5.4.2 above) extend the time and date of submission of tenders suitably (not less than three (3) days), along with suitable changes in the corresponding timeframes for receipt of tender, bid validity period etc and validity period of the corresponding EMD/bid security. Depending on the situation, such an amendment may also need fresh publication adopting the same procedure as for publication of the original tender enquiry.