The Ministry of Indian Railways has introduced the Indian Railways E-Procurement System (IREPS) to implement e-tendering, e-auctioning, and auction sales. IREPS serves as the official platform for procuring goods, works & services, selling materials, and leasing assets online. Developed and maintained by the Indian Railways and CRIS (Centre for Railway Information System), the application incorporates the latest technology and security features. It adheres to the IT Act of 2000[1] and follows the procurement, sales, and leasing directives periodically issued by the Ministry of Railways.
The website caters to the needs of all Indian Railways manufacturing units and zonal railways. Users of the website benefit from a secure platform for their transactions, ensuring a transparent process. This transparency encourages competitive bidding, fostering reasonable profits and higher aspirations. The increased competition also leads to a reduction in complaints about the tendering process.
The Process Of Registration With IREPS
Anyone wishing to participate in the e-auction and e-tender of Indian Railways must register with IREPS. Bidders must have a current authority-issued digital certificate bearing their company name to register.
The lifespan of a digital signature certificate will be one or two years. The subscriber may use the certificate as many times as necessary for document signing and authentication during its validity period.
To be registered, one should fill out the registration form.
Getting a quick response by furnishing correction information will speed up the registration process.
If the registration request is denied, an email including the properly assigned grounds for the denial is sent to the registered email address.
Once the registration process is done, one can participate in the tender or auction registration form with all the required information and wait for the tender or auction registration request to be reviewed and approved by ensuring the inclusion of the correct relevant documents. Annual renewal of the registration is important to continue participation.
Digital Signature Certificate
India is going digital, and it is probably going to modify all of its manual documentation processes to digital ones. The same will be built on the foundation of digital signature. According to the IT Act of 2000, digital signatures have already been given legal significance. It serves as a piece of legal evidence in courts of law all around the nation. According to section 2(1)(p)in the Information Technology Act, 2000, “digital signature” means authentication of any electronic record by a subscriber using an electronic method or procedure by the provisions of the act.
An organization or person’s identification can be confirmed using a digital signature certificate, a secure digital key issued by a certifying authority. A class 3 digital signature certificate is necessary to participate in tenders on the platform IREPS.
Process In Obtaining Digital Signature Certificate
⦁ This process involves the filing of an application form and submitting the required documents, such as Identity proof and proof of business registration.
⦁ A Digital Signature Certificate will have a validity of one or two years. During its validity period, the subscriber can use the certificate any number of times for authentication and signing the documents.
⦁ After examination and approval of the application, the applicant will receive the class III Digital Signature Certificate in the form of a USB token.
Comparative Statement Of Tender And Auction
The tender materials must be under the supervision of a Gazetted Officer until the tender is officially closed after opening the bids. An accountable staff member responsible for opening tenders should create a Comparative Statement. This statement includes rates, amounts, quantities, and other important tender conditions. Before assigning this task, an office order is essential to officially designate the responsible staff member. The department head needs to review and sign each page of the prepared comparison statement after the personnel has signed it.
The head of the department needs to review and sign each page of the comparative statement after it has been prepared and signed by the responsible team. The entire comparative statement should undergo a thorough check. Both the Executive Officer and the Accounts Officer involved in opening the tender should sign not only the last page but every page of the document.
The comparative statement, including all bids, should be compiled and directly submitted to the Tender Committee for evaluation without undergoing prior review by any other official. The designated Executive Officer will provide instructions for preparing the briefing notes, ensuring that the note incorporates all the specified details. Furthermore, the Executive Officer will sign each page of the briefing notes.
The estimator assigned to the project will carry out the financial analysis, which will undergo scrutiny by the chief estimator’s head. They will be responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the comparative statement and briefing notes, signing each page of both documents. The tender-handling department must verify the consideration of specific conditions, compare with local market rates, and ensure each page of the briefing note bears a signature. Only the officially signed and approved copies of the briefing note may be distributed to the tender committee members, ideally along with the minutes of the tender committee meeting.
Also, Read What is IREPS?
Responsibility Of The Committee
It should not take long to consider the tender. Within the offers’ validity time, bids must be completed. There should be no need to request additional extensions of time because all the information required to examine proposals should be requested at once.
In every instance where the lowest tender is rejected, the exact reasons for the rejection should be included so that they may be found in files. If the lowest bidder in an “open tender” is not an authorized contractor, he should be required to provide documentation of his execution capability and financial standing. If he is unable to provide these credentials, it should be noted in the records. Only if the tenderer’s capability, qualifications, and financial situation are judged to be satisfactory may the contract be awarded.
Advantages of Bidders and Vendors
Online bids and payments are both simple for bidders to complete.
All of the information regarding the tenders and corrections made public by the IREPS platform is easily accessible. It will make it easier for bidders to monitor any adjustments or modifications to the tenders.
Access to the comparable tender statement is another option available to them.
The ability to work from home and not have to rush to complete official tasks has made it more pleasant and easy for bidders overall. They are free to choose a time that is convenient for them.
Vendors can submit multiple offers at the same time. There is no restriction on the number of alternate offers being submitted by the vendors. All such alternate bids, along with original bids, will be considered valid bids and will be used for ranking purposes.
Neither bidder nor the Railway user can see any bidder’s identity during bidding. However, bidders will be able to see their bids. After the closure of the auction, the bidders and railway users can see the identity of all the bidders.
