Chennai, The intended objectives of the e-procurement system, i.e., promoting competition and transparency in the procurement process, were not achieved and the bidding patterns indicated bid rigging and cartelization, Performance Audit of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on implementation of e-procurement system in Tamil Nadu said on Saturday.
The pattern was observed, namely, rotation of bids, bidders with family relationship, submission of bids from the procuring entity's computers, different bidders submitting bids for a tender from the same IP address, encrypted information by bidders indicating Bid rigging and cartelization. 2023 presented in the Assembly said.
"These fraudulent practices among bidders and failure on the part of officials involved in evaluating and approving tenders derailed the TN government's efforts to increase participation, reduce costs, increase transparency and improve the procurement system," said. .
Data analysis of 1.34 lakh tenders for which valid bids were received revealed that 444 bids submitted in 208 tenders were received from bidders having the same address registered on the eProcurement portal and were submitted from the same IP address.
"The cases point to collusive bidding as bidders from different geographical locations in the state submit bids from the same IP address or submit bids from the Department's premises indicating that the Department was a party to it," he said.
There was no “responsibility center” to coordinate and monitor the functions of the e-procurement portal. Seventy-four percent of the procuring entities did not use the e-procurement portal even after a gap of 15 years since its inception.
Failure to upload tender evaluation reports left the e-procurement system incomplete, affecting the transparency and objectivity of the tender process and perpetuating reliance on manual records.
Further, the departments did not follow the schedules prescribed under the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tendering Rules, 2000 (TNTIT Rules) and the software was not designed to incorporate the schedule-related provisions of the TNTIT Rules, he said.
The pattern was observed, namely, rotation of bids, bidders with family relationship, submission of bids from the procuring entity's computers, different bidders submitting bids for a tender from the same IP address, encrypted information by bidders indicating Bid rigging and cartelization. 2023 presented in the Assembly said.
"These fraudulent practices among bidders and failure on the part of officials involved in evaluating and approving tenders derailed the TN government's efforts to increase participation, reduce costs, increase transparency and improve the procurement system," said. .
Data analysis of 1.34 lakh tenders for which valid bids were received revealed that 444 bids submitted in 208 tenders were received from bidders having the same address registered on the eProcurement portal and were submitted from the same IP address.
"The cases point to collusive bidding as bidders from different geographical locations in the state submit bids from the same IP address or submit bids from the Department's premises indicating that the Department was a party to it," he said.
There was no “responsibility center” to coordinate and monitor the functions of the e-procurement portal. Seventy-four percent of the procuring entities did not use the e-procurement portal even after a gap of 15 years since its inception.
Failure to upload tender evaluation reports left the e-procurement system incomplete, affecting the transparency and objectivity of the tender process and perpetuating reliance on manual records.
Further, the departments did not follow the schedules prescribed under the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tendering Rules, 2000 (TNTIT Rules) and the software was not designed to incorporate the schedule-related provisions of the TNTIT Rules, he said.
