TN e-procurement system is not competitive, transparent, says CAG report

There was no ‘Centre of responsibility’ to co-ordinate and monitor the functions of the eProcurement portal.

The envisaged objectives of e-procurement system namely in promoting competition and transparency in the procurement process was not achieved and the patterns of bidding indicated bid rigging and cartelisation, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India Performance Audit on Implementation of eProcurement system in Tamil Nadu said on Saturday.

The pattern, viz., bid rotation, bidders with family relationship, bid submission from procuring entity computers, different bidders placing bids for a tender from the same IP address, coded intimation by bidders indicative of bid rigging and cartelisation were noticed, the report for 2023 tabled in the Assembly said.

''These fraudulent practices among the bidders and the failure on the part of the officials involved in the evaluation and approval of the tenders derailed the efforts of government of TN in increasing participation, reducing costs, enhancing transparency and improving the procurement system,'' it 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 in the eProcurement portal and were submitted from the same IP address. ''The instances point to collusive bidding as either the bidders from different geographical locations of the state submit the bids from the same IP address or submit the bids from the Department’s premises indicating that the Department was a party to it,'' it said.

There was no ‘Centre of responsibility’ to co-ordinate and monitor the functions of the eProcurement portal. Seventy four per cent of the procuring entities did not utilise the eProcurement portal even after a lapse of 15 years since inception.

Non-uploading of tender evaluation reports rendered the eProcurement system incomplete affecting transparency and objectivity of the tender process and perpetuates dependence on manual records.

Further, the prescribed timelines as per Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tender Rules, 2000 (TNTIT Rules) were not followed by the departments and the software was not designed to incorporate the timeline related provisions of TNTIT Rules, it said.

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