Rule 170 — GFR

Rule 170 Bid Security

(i) To safeguard against a bidder's withdrawing or altering its bid during the bid validity period in the case of advertised or limited tender enquiry, Bid Security (also known as Earnest Money) is to be obtained from the bidders except Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) as defined in MSE Procurement Policy issued by Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) or are registered with the Central Purchase Organisation or the concerned Ministry or Department [or Startups as recognized by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)]31. The bidders should be asked to furnish bid security along with their bids. Amount of bid security should ordinarily range between two percent to five percent of the estimated value of the goods to be procured. The amount of bid security should be determined accordingly by the Ministry or Department and indicated in the bidding documents. The bid security may be accepted in the form of [Insurance Surety Bonds]32 Account Payee Demand Draft, Fixed Deposit Receipt, Banker's Cheque or Bank Guarantee [including e- Bank Guarantee]33 from any of the Commercial Banks or payment online in an acceptable form, safeguarding the purchaser's interest in all respects. The bid security is normally to remain valid for a period of forty-five days beyond the final bid validity period.

(ii) Bid securities of the unsuccessful bidders should be returned to them at the earliest after expiry of the final bid validity and latest on or before the 30th day after the award of the contract. [However, in case of two packet or two stage bidding, Bid securities of unsuccessful bidders during first stage i.e. technical evaluation etc. should be returned within 30 days of declaration of result of first stage i.e. technical evaluation etc.]34

(iii) In place of a Bid security, the Ministries/ Departments may require Bidders to sign a Bid securing declaration accepting that if they withdraw or modify their Bids during the period of validity, or if they are awarded the contract and they fail to sign the contract, or to submit a performance security before the deadline defined in the request for bids document, they will be suspended for the period of time specified in the request for bids document from being eligible to submit Bids for contracts with the entity that invited the Bids. [Amendment notes: 31 Inserted vide DoE OM No. F.20/2/2014-PPD(Pt.) dated 25.07.2017. 32 Inserted vide DoE OM No. F.1/1/2022-PPD dated 02.02.2022. 33 Inserted vide DoE OM No. F.1/4/2022-PPD dated 05.08.2022. | 34 Inserted vide DoE OM No. F.1/2/2022-PPD dated 01.04.2022. 35 Amended vide DoE OM No. F.1/2/2023-PPD dated 01.01.2024 Amount of performance security plus security deposit/ retention money for procurement of works will continue to be 3% to 10%.]