Para 8.6 — CONSULT_MANUAL

8.6 Negotiations to Freeze Description of Service 1. In the Consultancy Services contract, the accepted ToR and methodology etc are laid down in form of ‘Description of Service’. Therefore, before the contract is finally awarded, discussions may be necessary with the selected bidder to freeze these aspects, especially when, it is discouraged during evaluation of technical proposals to seek clarifications on these matters. However, such technical discussions do not amount to negotiations in the sense, the word is used in Procurement of Goods and Works. However, in Procurement of Consultancy, this discussion is termed as Negotiations since these discussions may have some financial ramifications at least for the bidder. Negotiations are not an essential part of the selection process. In many cases, however, it is felt necessary to conduct negotiations with the selected consultant for discussions of the ToR, methodology, staffing, Procuring Entity's inputs, and special conditions of the contract. These discussions shall not substantially alter (or dilute) the original ToR or terms of the offer, lest the quality of the final product, its cost, and the initial evaluation be vitiated. The final ToR and the agreed methodology shall be incorporated in "Description of Services," which shall form part of the contract.

8.7 Award of Contract

2. Financial negotiations shall only be carried out if, due to negotiations, there is any change in the scope of work which has a financial bearing on the final prices or if the costs/cost elements quoted are not found to be reasonable. In such negotiations, the selected firm may also be asked to justify and demonstrate that the prices proposed in the contract are not out of line with the rates being charged by the consultant for other similar assignments. However, in no case such financial negotiation should result in an increase in the financial cost as originally quoted by the consultant and on which basis the consultant has been called for the negotiations. If the negotiations with the selected consultant fail, the Procuring Entity shall cancel the bidding procedure and re-invite the bids.