MDP Session on eProcurement
* e-Procurement Concepts * e-Payments Integration * NIC’s Pilot Implementation of e-Procurement * Govt. e-Procurement solution (GeP) by NIC * eGP Mission Mode Project and NIC * Issues in e-Procurement
=====================
Monday, the 8th September 2008
R K Singh (rk.singh@nic.in) Senior Technical Director, NIC
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Procurement Concepts …….
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Procurement Concepts
Procurement Process and it’s Constraints Introduction to e-Procurement Features & Benefits Approach to a solution/ Critical Determinants Implementation - Approach & Success Factors Reverse Auctions – What, How & When? e-Catalogue based Buying
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Procurement Process – A Bird’s Eye View
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Procurement cycle
Procurement cycle starts from Raising of the requirements for an item or a service and ends only after settlement of supplier payments.
Request
Source
Order
Receive
Pay
Analytics
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Constraints of Traditional Procurement
Large time and effort wasted in disseminating & seeking procurement informations Physical Access barriers Slow and laborious manual processes, activity-flow Human interface at every stage - Low Value Addition Several processes not transparent to suppliers Scope for compromises in bid-security & confidentiality Cartel formation suppresses competition and artificially hikes bids Possibility of data tampering and loss of records
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Procurement - The Solution
e-Procurement means procurement of goods and services online using the internet. Ideally, it covers the full ‘life cycle of procurement’. The intention is to automate, possibly, the entire procurement process, along with tender bid submission and payments by suppliers, in an online web-based real-time environment. e-Procurement could resolve many of the constraints/ delays of traditional procurement.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Modes of e-Procurement
Electronic procurement activities could be effected using one of the several ways or modes given below, or a combination of these could also be used as per need: -
e-Tendering e-Auctioning – Reverse Auctions e-Catalogue based buying/ e-Ordering
In common parlance however, a basic e-Procurement application essentially consists of an ‘e-Tendering system’ and often also includes an ‘e-Auctioning system’. It could also encompass e-catalogue based buying as well.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Objectives of e-Procurement
Objectives of automating processes are to: Reduce cycle times of procurement
procurement
Increase supplier access to ensure wider participation
Reduce costs of procurement through competitive bidding and Reverse Auctioning Remove cartelisation Auctioning) by supplier groups (Reverse
Increase visibility of procurement spend, for effective decision making Increase transparency in the procurement process
Almost complete elimination of paperwork, for speedy and efficient functioning
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Electronic Tendering Solution
An e-Tendering solution primarily facilitates the ‘Tendering Process’ and may cover from Indenting of Requirements to the placing of contract/PO
Indent To Tender Request
Tender Preparation
Tender Publishing
Bidder Response
Bid Evaluation
Contract Award
e-Tendering Solution
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Tendering solution - Functionalities
Tender Creation/ configuration, with Response Forms
Pre-NIT Approvals and Floating/ Publishing of Tender
Tender Clarifications, Pre-Bid Conference Online Secure Bid Submission, e-Payment of Fees Online Bid Opening/ Decryption, Evaluation/ Negotiation Award of Contract, Empanelment etc.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Tendering solution - Features
Different Types of Tenders – Open, Limited & Proprietary Configurable Approval Work flow, Re-use of old tenders Supplier Enablement – Online Registration, Custom dashboard, Repetitive document storage, Alerts, Search etc Strong Audit-trail and Archival/ Retrieval Security/ Authenticity/ Secrecy of Transactions Online Payments – Tender Fee, EMD & Payment to Suppliers
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Benefits of e-Procurement/ e-Tendering
Benefits to Buyers
Reduction in Procurement & Contracts cycle time Cost Reduction Efficient & streamlined Procurement Processes
New Supplier Discovery
Close Monitoring of Activities/ Vendor Performance Rich MIS and Analytics New Improved Image
Standardized formats and Uniform tendering practices
Benefits to Suppliers
Increased visibility/ Less artificial barriers
Increased business opportunities,
Greater degree of transparency
Cycle time reduction in participation and award of Contract Supplier Enablement and Ease of Participation
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Approach To A Solution
Before looking for an e-Procurement solution, a relook on existing procurement procedures/ practices is essential: -
‘As Is’ Analysis, Re-engineering for optimized processes
Optimization/ reduction in process-flow steps
Uniformity/ standardization in formats/ practices/ procedures
Organization wide use of ‘unified item-codification structure’ Automation of Processes
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Critical Determinants - of a Good Solution
Good authentication – Role based access Security, Secrecy (of bids) - Signing, Encryption
Ease of Use, Tender Templates, e-Payment integration etc.
Integrated Document Management features, Good Analytics Good Audit trail/ traceability features – Access for Financial Audit, Legal and RTI needs Good Archival & Retrieval features/ policy - Safe and secure
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Implementation - Approach
Business Process Analysis for Improvement: Re Defining scope of Implementation: functionalities
covered
engineering, Codification, Back-end application linkages etc.
Sourcing e-Proc. Appln. S/w: Gap Analysis and
Customization
Setting up a Fail-safe & Secure 24x7 Infrastructure Integrating Payment Gateways, PKIs, Mail etc. Change Management: Training, 24 Hr. Help-desk Execution Framework – Management of Rollout & Risks
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Implementation - Success Factors
Major factors which could be crucial to transformation from simple traditional procurement to e-Procurement are: Strong will and focused thrust from the top management Building in-house champions/ enthusiasts for adoption of e-Procurement Buyer’s dedicated project team to drive the Mission Aiming for realistic implementable goals/ objectives and time lines Well defined/ standardized procurement processes and forms
Extreme care to aspects like Tender-security, Supplier-enablement/ Training & Ease of use
Well integrated back end systems, standards, policies & practices to link and leverage upon
It must be remembered that implementing e-Procurement is most often a continuous evolving process with shifting goals, spread over a longer period, targeting end to end procurement supply chain; rather than a one shot solution for all procurement problems.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Reverse Auction and e-Catalogue based Buying
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
What is A Reverse Auction?
• The traditional auction is a Forward Auction It normally involves a seller offering an item for sale, while potential buyers compete with each other for purchase. Thus price is driven up, until no buyer is willing to go up further. • In a Reverse Auction, MULTIPLE SELLERS OF A
PRODUCT VIE FOR THE BUSINESS OF A SINGLE BUYER.
Therefore the price is driven down. • There are 3-4 flavours of reverse auction, called as: English Auction, Dutch Auction, Sealed Bid Auction etc.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
How does a Reverse Auction work?
Pre-screening/ Pre-qualification of suppliers is essential to have technically competent vendors, ready to offer products of desired specs/ quality. Complete requirement specifications are preknown/ agreed and frozen for all before auction. Usually services of an online Auction Service Provider is utilized to conducts the process on his auctioning website. Suppliers are required to be pre-registered with the auction service provider and expected to have received training on how to participate .
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
How does a Reverse Auction work?
All bidding vendors must have agreed to abide by the terms & conditions of the auction/ service. The Reverse auction is configured and all participating vendors are pre-notified about the start time & closing time of auction. Bidders submit their price bids by remotely logging-in from their offices. Bidders identities are masked, but they can see the competing prices and rankings in real time and could revise their bids as desired.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
How does a Reverse Auction work?
There is no communication or negotiation with the bidders during the auction. Buyer also watches the progress of bidding from his office. Identities of bidders are available to him. In reverse auction competition is high, bidders get tempted to bid lower and lower to clinch the deal, until they are unwilling to go any further. At the conclusion the lowest bidder emerges as winner of the auction.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Potential Benefits from Reverse Auction
To Buyers:
Significant reduction in cost due to Dynamic Bidding process. Inefficiencies in the supply chain reduce. With real time competition, suppliers are on their toes A tool for efficient price discovery, complementing direct negotiation process. Often used along with Tendering.
To Vendors:
Ensures Savings in marketing cost / distributor margins Facilitates flexibility in pricing decision. Transparency increases Allows vendors to assess their pricing power from close quarters of competition.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Tender Cycle with Reverse Auction
(Dynamic Pricing)
Online Registration
Create and Publish Tender/ NIT
Purchase/ Download Tender
Preparation/ Encryption of Bids
PQ/ Tech. Opening, Evaluation & Short listing
Bid-Opening and Verification
Online Submission of Bid/ Hashes
Creating Bid Seals (Hashes & Super Hash)
Competitive Bidding using Dynamic Pricing Engine
Commercial Opening and Short listing
Generation of Comparative Statement
Award of Contract (lowest of the two rounds)
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Applicability of Online Reverse Auctions
Reverse auction works best when:
Items have well defined specifications and universally accepted standards.
Established qualified base of vendors (at least three)
Suitable for High value, large volume goods, Capital goods, Direct Materials / MRO items. Periodic rate contracts for above item types. Often used along with Tendering for efficient price discovery Applicable for Technically Pre-qualified/ short listed vendors only
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Catalogue based Buying
e-Catalogue
based Buying or e-Ordering is the obvious prevalent mode for small procurements by individuals. But for corporate or government agencies, this is yet not a real option. But this mode of procurement has many obvious advantages, particularly if such an ‘Online Procurement Hub’ (Portal) is created for use of government agencies. Such a Hub would hold (and manage) electronic supplier-catalogues (with specs/ quality details) of goods & services, with minimum possible prices affordable by them, for buying agencies to access and use for off-the-shelf buying.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Catalogue based Buying
(…Contd)
Secure transactions (such as: Purchase orders, Invoices, ePayments etc.) would be enabled by the Hub and exchanged electronically between buying agencies and suppliers. Though success of such a venture mainly depends upon a large enough size of participants, but the approach has many advantages, like: It is superior to buyer & suppliers establishing direct link Suppliers need to maintain/ update only one catalogue on the Hub and establish only one interface to sell to many (govt.) buyers It could be highly useful for all the routine small item purchase of government agencies and even be used for bigger items/ volume purchases, where item/ service specs are quite standard.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
End of session on
e-Procurement Concepts
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Payment and it’s Integration
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Payment and it’s Integration
Commonly available modes for effecting EMD/ Fee/ other payments electronically, from within a software Application, are: Online payment through Credit cards/ Debit cards or Direct Account Debit (using Gateway for Internet Banking) Depending on the actual need and usage constraints, the appropriate mode could be chosen and integrated into the s/w application. Credit cards could conveniently be integrated for use if the payment amounts involved are not substantial. For all other cases where payment amounts could be heavy, payments through Direct Debits from concerned accounts, using Internet Banking is the only alternative.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Payment and it’s Integration (…contd.)
For integrating e-Payment features into the
Application, one needs to talk to concerned banks, who manage their own Payment Gateway Interfaces for this purpose. integrated, then integrating the ‘Credit Card Payment Gateway’ of any one of the providing banks is sufficient.
If credit card based payments are to be
But for integrating e-Payments through direct
debit from concerned accounts, it is essential that the exercise for integrating such Payment Gateways is undertaken with every bank concerned.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Payment and it’s Integration (…contd.)
The exercise of a Payment Gateway integration involves: Deciding on details like: Parameters to be exchanged between the Application and the Bank Gateway Handshaking between the two Modes of Access (Transaction/ Verify) Periodic Reconciliation of payments etc.
Modifying the Application to actually integrate above.
Functional testing rounds with each integrated gateway. Signing a Document of Understanding between parties. Opening Merchant Account(s) in the integrated bank for the purpose of collecting payments and giving any standing fund transfer instructions, if so.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Payment Integration Parameters
Sample set of Parameters passed (Application to Payment Gateway) Mode (payment/verification) Merchant ID Transaction Reference No. Amount Currency Time Stamp Return URL etc Sample set of Parameters passed (Payment Gateway to Application) Bank Reference No. Transaction Reference No. Amount Status (Paid) Time Stamp
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Payment Process - Steps
1. 2. 3. 4. The User initiates payment through interface in Application system for a particular transaction The User selects the mode of payment (i.e. direct debit) and the bank. The Application System generates a unique reference number (PRN) for this
transaction.
The Application System invokes the appropriate payment gateway based on the selection of the User and passes a set of identified parameters to the payment gateway. 5. 6. 7. The payment gateway receives the parameters and the payment screen is displayed to the User. The User logs in to his bank account and authenticates the payment. The payment gateway processes the transaction and returns a set of parameters (including a unique bank reference number/BID) to the Application
System.
8. The Application System captures and records these details against the transaction and displays the status to the User.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Payment Process (Direct Debit)
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
End of session on
e-Payment and it’s Integration
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Pilot Implementation of e-Procurement solution at NIC Hqr.
https://eprocure.gov.in
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
e-Procurement Pilot at NIC Hqr
NIC implemented a project for e-Procurement on pilot basis, with an e-tendering solution provided by an outside vendor at zero cost.
The solution essentially involved creating all the requirement details/ specs, of a tender to be floated electronically, in parameterized form; so that subsequent evaluation & comparative chart preparation exercises could be automated to a large extent.
It was implemented with good security features, after having three rounds of security audit and addressing it’s observations. A total of four NIC tenders were processes electronically through the solution from May ’06 till Feb. ’07.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Pilot Implementation at NIC Hqr
Functionalities/ Features • Online creation of Indent and Tender documents/ specs with General/ Specific Terms & Conditions, Vendor Eligibility, Configuration of Tender/ NIT details & events • Electronic publishing of NIT & Tender document • Bidder Registration, Login, Bid preparation, document upload, Bid encryption/ enveloping & secure submission
• Online payment of Tender Fee/ EMD • Bid Opening and Decryption, visible to all bidders • Simultaneous Bid Evaluation of an open tender Technical/Financial. • Matching & Negotiation facilities
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Pilot Implementation at NIC Hqr
Functionalities/ Features (…contd) • Rate Contract / Empanelment, Generation of Purchase Orders • Integration of three payment gateways (Bank of India, PNB & ICICI Bank) • • • • • • Integration of DSCs of three CAs (NIC, TCS and nCode Solutions) Enabling exchange of electronic payment (EMD/ T. Fee) info. with PAO’s software, to enable later refunds Server side validation Automatic mail alerts to vendors/approvers/bid openers Provision for asking Revised Financial Bid, as per need Provision for tender copy facility - view & use old tender documents/corrigendum
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Implementation Platform Servers H/w: Rack Mount Dual CPU Servers
H/W and S/W
(Intel Xeon MP 2.8Ghz Processors, with 512 KB L2 cache, 2 MB L3 cache per processor)
Others :
SAN Back Agent S/W For Linux(Net vault), Online Line back up Agent for DB2 under Linux (Net vault)
Application Server :
-
IBM Web Sphere Application Server 6.0 ND,
- IBM Web Sphere Application Server 6.0 with
- Red Hat Advanced Server3.0 (update 5)
Database : Others : Front End :
IBM DB2 UDB V8.2 (Enterprise Server Edition) Server Protect Trend micro for Application Servers. IE 5.0 and above browser. J2EE Development Environment.
Development Environment :
Client users needed only to have a browser
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Implementation Platform-Deployment Architecture
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Implementation Platform - Application Architecture
Identity Based Authentication
Role Based User Access
PKI (Dig Sign)
Internal
Web Server
Document Versioning
Firewall
Reports Engine
DATABASE Server
Application
Suppliers / External
Server
e-payment Server
Presentation Layer MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Business Logic Layer
Pilot at NIC Hqr - Experiences
Attempts at BPR/Automation of Processes:
Attempts at Organization wide Unified Item-codification structure Collaborative way of evaluation to minimize evaluation cycle time Parameterization of tender specifications to enable automated evaluation PKI enablement - The application supported two factor authentication - one based on credentials maintained by the application and the other based on the credentials provided through use of PKI digital certificates Issues
User Authentication:
Bid security & secrecy - Signing, Encryption:
The application supported the industry standard for bid security through PKI based signing & encryption of bid forms/ documents, as well, as the time stamping of bids at the time of submission by vendors Issues
Submission of Bids and payment of Bid fees:
Last minute submission of bids by Vendors Unsuccessful e-Payments - Issues, Option for conventional payment e-Payment Reconciliation
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Unified Item-codification Structure
Category Category Code Sub Category Code Sub Type Category Code Type Item Description Code Item Description (Tender) 100 COMPUTING DEVICES 200 Communication & Network Equipments 300 (200-299) Softwares(300-399) 400 Infra-strcuture Equipments(400-499) 600 Office Items, Office Equipment & Equipment Supplies 800 Services(800-899) 900 Books Publications & Library Related
Example :
101 Servers 101005 Rackmount Servers 101005001 Rackmount Server RS-1U 101005001001 Intel-One Processor Server 1U
316 Image editing Softwares
316004 Remote Sensing Satallite Data Processing softwares
316004001 Image Processing Software
316004001001 Image Processing Software For Remote Sensing Satellite Data Processing For Ms Windows
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Log-in Process- Home Page
https://eprocure.gov.in
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
End of session on
Pilot Implementation of e-Procurement solution at NIC Hqr
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Government e-Procurement (GeP) Solution by NIC
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
GeP Solution - Outline
Background & Evolution of GeP Envisaged Scope of GeP
Functionality/Features Security/ Authentication
NIC GeP System
Development & Status Different Modules Security & Authentication
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Background of GeP – Why & How?
As expected from an organization like NIC, an important purpose of the pilot e-Procurement project at NIC Hqr was also - to evolve/ crystallize a workable approach for wide adoption and Rollout of e-Procurement/ e-Tendering solution in government – at Central/ State levels – to meet their impending requirements in this regard. But after pursuing with the pilot implementation for a significant period, the following became obvious: Procurement procedures/ norms as well as formats and activity-flows differ widely across govt. offices and they also significantly vary depending on nature of procurement – viz: Bulk goods, Std. items, Specification based items, Works or Services etc. As such, there could not be a single Application which could fit all kinds of procurement requirements and be rolled out.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Background of GeP – Why & How?(Contd.)
It is much more difficult to attempt rollout of an e-tendering solution with ‘strict parametric pre-defined form based’ approach in creating online tender specifications and also in evaluation of bids. The problem is more because of lack of standard practices and formats/ documents in organizing backend procurement activities. It is difficult to evolve a reasonable & acceptable rollout model for government departments, if the solution’s ownership belongs to a third party. As such, NIC decided to attempt evolving/ developing an eprocurement solution where the ownership would be of NIC itself and the solution could be of a more general nature, rather than specific for wider implementation.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Evolution of GeP System
Basic framework of Gep was decided to be a generic solution, usable for all kind of Tenders by all users. It was to be largely non-parametric, based mainly on the upload/ download and submission of Tender (RFP/ RFQ document) & Bids as text based documents, with a few tables, which is normally used in most cases. The tabular Response Form(s) were to be dynamically definable (like EXCEL) for vendor responses in one column. It was targeted to be fully configurable for different tendering practices – 1/2/3 packet bid-systems, EOI etc. Full range of Access control & Security related features were to be built around the main basic functionality.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Envisaged Scope
Procurement of Goods, Works and Services – all kinds Types of Tenders - Open, Limited, Expression of Interest Hybrid Mode of Operation
Electronic and Paper Based Bid Submission (Initial Stages of Implementation) Mode of Payments (Tender Fee, EMD) e-Payment, as well as Conventional Payment Modes (DD etc.)
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Envisaged scope - Functionalities
User Registration and Database of Registered Contractors Creation/ Publishing of NIT, Tender docs., Addendum/ Corrigendum Bidding: Search, download, Prepare bid, Pay, Prepare Bidenvelopes, Sign/Encrypt, Submit securely Secure Bid Opening and Decryption SOR based Financial Bid Evaluation for Works Tender Publishing of Contract Details (Rate Contract/ Work Order/ PO) Communication of Tender Award to respective Tenderers
Interface with User’s existing Tender Portal/ website
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Envisaged Scope - Solution Features
Capturing of important transaction data/meta data at Various Stages of Procurement Cycle Auto Notification/ Mail Alerts, Validation of Data (Client/ Server
end)
Time Stamping and confidentiality of Bid Documents MIS on e-Payment/ Reconciliation, Tendering, Bidding, Evaluation, Award of Contract, Tender Summary, User Activity, Audit Trail etc. Online User Help/ Manuals/ Documents, Help Desk Reliability – Failsafe Deployment, Archival of Electronic Records System Administration (by NIC) and Appl./ DB Admn (by User Dept)
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Envisaged Scope - Security/ PKI
Secured Login and Authentication Role Based Access Control Audit Logging, History Tables, Firewalls Digital Signing/ Verification of Data & Documents Structured data as well as documents to be uploaded in the system would be signed using DSC (Class II and above) issued by any valid Certifying Authority in India While accepting digitally signed content, server side verification required, so as to ensure that the document is not tampered Encryption (/Decryption) of Sensitive Data & Documents Secured Communication between Client & Server (128 bit
SSL)
Security Audit of GeP software
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
NIC GeP System – Development & Status
After our Requirement Specifications, actual development was at Tamilnadu State Unit of NIC. The initial software version came out in Jan. 2008 Platform used: Open Source/ open standard s/w tools, i.e. - Linux, Apache Tomcat, PostgreSQLs Database, JEE and Jasper Reports. First pilot implemented in Tamilnadu Government Pilot implementations also going on in select departments of Orissa, UP, Haryana Govt. Online payment gateways of SBI, ICICI & AXIS banks also implemented (optional).
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
NIC GeP system - Modules
Registration – Dept. Users and Suppliers Tender Management – Create, Publish,
Corrigendum/ Addendum Submit bids
Bid Management – Download, Clarify, Prepare &
Bid Opening – Part-I (Technical/ Pre-Qual.) and Part-II (Financial) Bid evaluation – Technical & Financial Award of contract
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
NIC GeP system - User Registration
Departmental user
Created by Administrator Roles like Tender Creator,Publisher, Bid Opener & Evaluator are defined as needed Password sent by mail, Later User registers his DSC Registers online by filling up a form DSC is attached if available else later Password sent by mail. Logs-in and Registers his DSC (eToken of Sify/nCode/ TCS) Class II or Class III –Required for log-in and enables signing & encryption Valid for one or two years Currently integrated - DSC’s from NIC-CA and e-Tokens from SIFY, nCode & TCS Registered DSC’s can be cancelled/ blacklisted
Contractors/bidders
Digital Signature Certificates
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
NIC GeP system - Tender Management
Tender Creation/ Preparation of documents:
Description/ Tech. specs, Drawing (in Design Web Format) ITB, Contract Terms & Conditions (Genl/ Spcl/ Adnl) Qualification Criteria, Forms, Various Proforma/ Declaratn. Financial Bid, BOQ Form (Item-rate or % Rate based)
Tender Configuration:
Open/limited/EOI, Class of Tender/ Contractor, Validity etc No. of Packets, Tender fees/EMD - online/ offline/ exempt Dates of Events, Formation of committees
Tender Publishing Pre-bid Clarifications/ meetings – Queries/ replies uploaded Creation/ Publishing of Tender Corrigendum
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
NIC GeP system - Bid Management
Tender document download Bid preparation Payment of Fees – Electronically or Traditional Modes Bid submission
Bidder must be prior registered with the site along with his DSC He Logs-in securely and Searches/ Selects the desired tender Selected Tender gets moved to ‘My Tender’ section, He downloads Gets clarifications, Prepares Bid documents/ Forms (in PDF) Starts Bid-submission by Accepting T&Cs, then Paying fees Online/ Offline (fills details/ uploads scans and sends physically) Fills BOQ form/ rates, Signs/ encrypts & uploads bid documents Submits securely, Gets a time-stamped Bid-summary/ Receipt. Bidder can withdraw an online bid and re-submit Bidder can also submit manual bids
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
NIC GeP system - Bid Receipt & Opening
Receipt of bids:Remain encrypted till the opening of bids. Opening of 1st Part/ Tech. Bid:
Opened by designated officials, using their DSCs Bidders need not be physically present Each activity is time stamped (presently server time) Bidders selected (as per criteria) for Tech. Evaluation Summary of proceedings updated. Metadata on offline/manual bids can also be updated if received.
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
NIC GeP system - Evaluation & Award
• Technical Bid Evaluation:
• Bid documents are printed & evaluated manually • Tech. Evaluation Recommendations are updated • Selected bidders are informed of Financial bid opening dates
• Opening of 2nd Part/ Finl. Bid: Similar to Tech. • Financial Bid Evaluation:
• Fin. Bids are printed & evaluated manually • Fin. Evaluation Recommendations are updated • Bidders are informed of the results
• Award of Contract: Final award published on the
web-site
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
GeP system - Security & Authentication
• • • • Secured Hosting facility Web security – 128 bits SSL encryption Two factor Authentication with DSCs Confidentiality – Encryption of all Bids documents
using a mix of Sym./ Asymmetric (opener ’s Public Key) Approach, Sensitive fields also at DB level.
• • • •
Audit trail of each activity Time stamping of all events. Good backup policy Security Audited by independent third party
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
A live GeP e-Tendering website
of Tamilnadu Government
www.tntenders.gov.in
[also www.tenders.tn.gov.in & demoetenders.tn.nic.in]
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
End of session on
Govt. e-Procurement solution (GeP) by NIC
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Issues in e-Procurement
e-Payment Issues:
Gateway Integration – Diverse Gateway Interfacing
Requirements, often dictated by the Banking s/w in use.
Adoption in Government – Issues in Wide scale and
uniform adoption of e-Receipts/ e-Payments in government
Digital Certificates (DSCs) Issues:
Relating to Integration
Change of CPS/ DSC fields Need for standard interface/ API from CAs for integration into any Application
Usage - Handling Encryption Keys
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
Issues in e-Procurement
(..Contd)
(DSC Issues …Contd)
Adoption in Government - Repeated Fee, Transfers Interoperability – Inter-usability of DSCs of CAs
mandated by CCA of India and those of other countries, in case of global tender invitations/ participation.
Bid Secrecy/Time-stamping – Need of a
common trusted ‘Third Party Repository’ till bid opening
Electronic Archival/ Retrieval – Need of a
Secure Archiving Repository for Govt. organizations
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC
MDP session on eProcurement, NIC