Para 5.5.8 — CONSULT_MANUAL

a) The Procuring Entity is neither a party nor a principal in the relationship between Bidder and the organisation hosting the e-procurement portal (hereinafter called the Portal). Bidders must acquaint and train themselves with the rules, regulations, procedures, and implied conditions/ agreements of the Portal. Bidders intending to participate in the bid, shall be required to register in the Portal. b) Any query/ clarification/ complaint regarding downloading Tender Documents and uploading Bids on the e-Procurement portal may be addressed to the Help Desk of the portal. c) In case of conflict between provisions of the Portal with the Tender Document, provisions of the Portal shall prevail. Bidders may study the resources provided by the Portal for Bidders. d) Bids must be uploaded till the deadline for submission mentioned in the Tender Document. If the office happens to be closed on the deadline to submit the bids as specified above, this deadline shall not be extended. Bidder must comply with the conditions of the eProcurement portal, including registration, compatible Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) etc. In the case of downloaded documents, Bidder must not make any changes to the contents of the documents while uploading, except for filling in the required information. e) Only one copy of the bid can be uploaded, and Bidder shall digitally sign all statements, documents, certificates uploaded by him, owning sole and complete responsibility for their correctness/ authenticity as per the provisions of the IT Act 2000 as amended from time to time. f) Regarding the protected Price Schedule (excel format, Cover-2), Bidder shall write his name in the space provided in the specified location only. Bidder shall type rates in the figure only in the rate column of respective item

(s) without any blank cell or Zero values in the rate column, without any alteration/ deletion/ modification of other portions of the excel sheet. If space is inadequate, Bidder may upload additional documents under "Additional Documents" in the "bid Cover Content." g) The date and time of the e-Procurement server clock, which is also displayed on the dashboard of the bidders, shall be taken as the reference time for deciding the closing time of bid submission. Bidders are advised to ensure they submit their bid within the deadline and time of bid submission, taking the server clock as a reference, failing which the portal shall not accept the Bids. No request on the account that the server clock was not showing the correct time and that a particular bidder could not submit their bid because of this shall be entertained. Failure or defects on the internet or heavy traffic at the server shall not be accepted as a reason for a complaint. The

5.5.8 Uploading/ Submission of Bids 1. Uploading Bids in eProcurement: Different eProcurement portals 56 may have different provisions, but the following is the generic description:

Procuring Entity shall not be responsible for any failure, malfunction or breakdown of the electronic system used during the e-procurement Process. h) All Bids uploaded by Bidder to the portal shall get automatically encrypted. The encrypted bid can only be decrypted/ opened by the authorised persons on or after the due date and time. The bidder should ensure the correctness of the bid before uploading and take a printout of the system generated submission summary to confirm successful bid upload. i) Bidder must upload scanned copies of originals (or self-attested copies of originals – as specified). Bidder should ensure the clarity/ legibility of the scanned documents uploaded by him. The Procuring Entity reserves its right to call for verification of originals of all such self-certified documents from the Bidders at any stage of evaluation, especially from the successful Bidder

(s) before the issue of Letter of Award (LoA). j) If so specified, originals (or self-attested copies of originals – e.g., exemption/ proof of EMD (in the form of Bank Guarantee, DD etc.) or, as specified therein) of specified scanned uploaded documents must be physically submitted sealed in double cover and acknowledgement be obtained before the bid submission deadline at mentioned venue. Failure to do so is likely to result in the bid being rejected. If the office is closed on the deadline for physical submission of originals, it shall stand extended to the next working day at the same time and venue. k) No manual Bids shall be made available or accepted for submission in e-Procurement (except for originals of scanned copies as per sub-para above).

2. Submission of Bids in offline Tender Process: In offline tenders, receipt and custody of bids shall be done in a transparent manner to maintain the credibility of the process. The following guidelines should be adhered to for receipt and custody of bids:

a) The technical and financial proposals shall be submitted at the same time. To safeguard the integrity of the process, the technical and financial proposals shall be submitted in separate sealed envelopes, kept in an outer sealed envelope. b) The procuring entity shall maintain tender boxes for receiving the bids at suitable locations which would facilitate security and easy access to bidders. If required, Tender boxes should be separate for each day of the week of tender opening and should be sealed by the Bid Opening Committee (BOC) of the day. The tender box shall have two locks. Key of one lock will be with the head of the office and the other key with the official nominated by him; c) Bids received by courier shall be deposited in the tender box by the Dispatch Section till the date and time of bid opening. Bids sent by telex, cable or facsimile are to be ignored and rejected.; and d) For bulky/oversized bids which cannot be dropped into tender boxes, the officials authorised to receive such bids shall maintain proper records and provide a signed receipt with date and time to the bearer of the bid. He will also sign on the cover, duly indicating the date and time of receipt of the tender(s). Names and designations of at least two such authorised officers should be mentioned in the tender documents.

3. Bid security: Bid Security or if permitted Bid Securing Declaration (BSD) must accompany the bid as per instructions in the Tender Document. A self-attested scan of the original Bid Security/ BSD should be uploaded along with bids. Bids not complying with these provisions shall be rejected. Please refer para 6.1.1 below.

5.5.9 Bid Validity A bid shall remain valid for the period mentioned in the Tender Document (90 days if not so specified). A bid valid for a shorter period shall be rejected as nonresponsive. In case the day up to which the bids are to remain valid falls on or is subsequently declared a holiday/ closed day for the Procuring Entity, the bid validity shall automatically be deemed to be extended upto the next working day. The validity period should not be unreasonably long as keeping the tender unconditionally valid for acceptance for a longer period entails the risk of getting higher prices from the bidders. (Please see para 8.2.6 below for extension of Bid Validity Period)