Info Tech Corporation of Goa Limited – Integrating e-Payment with e-Tender

With a view to make public procurement transparent and more efficient, Info Tech Corporation of Goa Limited, a Government of Goa undertaking, has introduced a project called “State wide e-Tendering Solution with e-Payment Integration.” The online system provides information about all aspects of procurement including vendor registration, tender preparation, tender upload, tender document purchase, bid preparation, bid submission, bid evaluation, bid comparison and tender award.

This end-to-end e-Tendering system has been implemented by Info Tech Corporation of Goa Limited in partnership with Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Limited. Axis Bank is the banking partner and acts as e-payment gateway service provider. The software used for the solution is named TenderWizard. It uses secure web-based G2B (Government to Business) collaborative tools. The new solution enables firms to be more efficient as paper-based transactions are reduced or eliminated, facilitating for a more speedy exchange of information.

Challenges

There was a lot of resistance from different stakeholders during the initial phase of the project. It included resistance from within the tendering organisation, resistance from bidders and vendors etc.

e-Tendering is a new phenomenon, which transforms from manual methods of work to electronic ones. These new changes have created a new advanced environment completely different to what has been used for many years. Many bidders fear that they won’t succeed in getting tenders under the electronic process and thus resisted. Also, lack of skilled officials in the Government departments with ICT knowledge, delayed the implementation.

Solution

ITG, the nodal agency for the e-Tendering system, has implemented the solution for various government departments, institutions, corporations and autonomous bodies. It also conducts training and provides 24X7 Helpdesk for the tendering authorities and vendors/bidders.

In order to float a tender on portal, there are three types of fees collected from each participating vendor – Tender Document Fee (TDF), Tender Processing Fee (TPF) and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD). Earlier, the bidders participating in e-Tender had to pay these fees in form of Demand Draft, FDR etc. In the new system e-Payments facility is available.

Outcomes

Benefits to tendering agency, officials:

• Brings in more transparency by reducing human intervention for tender document issue, submission.
• No manual intervention till tender opening.
• Hassel free mode of payments.
• Auto issue of tender documents, which reduces the activity burden of the tender calling authority.
• Auto reconcile of the fund received, which in turn reduce the tender opening process.
• Process of Reconcile and EMD return for non-successful vendors is completely automated.
• Faster Funds depositing in Government Treasury account.

Benefits to vendors/contractors

• Tenders can be submitted form any place in the world and without visiting the tender calling office.
• Avoids manual traveling for tender fees instrument submission.
• Reduction in the transaction
• cost with respect to manual DD charges etc.
• Greater accounting and tracking mechanisms as entire transaction is online.
• Faster refund of EMD’s thereby making more active money for transaction and execution.
• Transparency and complete secrecy till the tender opening.