e Procurement System certification (ePS)

E-Procurement is identified as a mission mode project under national E-Governance plan. The objective is to transform Government /public sector purchase activity from labor-intensive paper based to efficient eProcurement process. Electronic Procurement (eProcurement) is the use of Information and Communication Technology (specially the Internet) by the buyer (in this case Government) in conducting their procurement processes with supplier for the acquisition of goods (supplies), works and services. Use of Information Technology promotes the aims of open, non‐discriminatory and efficient government procurement through transparent procedures. It is the technology‐enabled acquisition of goods and services, required by an organization, at the best value obtainable in the most efficient manner possible.

The essential quality characteristics of eProcurement system cover Security, Transparency & Functionality.

STQC eProcurement System (EPS) certification include the following:

A.eProcurement Applications:

• E-Tendering: Include registration process, bid publishing, bid submission and bid opening,
• E-Auction: E-Auction includes either forward or reverse auction or both, as per the requirement of customer/ user /developer’s claim or any other technique with any of the following requirement:
  • Auction methodology, business rules and SRS should be signed off by the intended specific user (s), if any.
  • NIA (Notice inviting Application), if any.
  • Govt. of India guidelines/Any other applicable guideline
• E-Tendering and E- Auction(as part of single application): As per detail in (a) and (b)

B.eProcurement System:

eProcurement applications, with deployment Infrastructure (Servers, Network devices, storage, etc. either on premise or Cloud infrastructure located within India)

General Requirements of eProcurement Application/System

The basic requirements of any eProcurement application/system are to achieve the goal of Government procurement, standardization of procurement processes and information entities in an efficient and transparent way. Hence the key requirements are to:

1.Adherence to GFR:

For public procurement of goods, services, works (e.g. construction) compliance with GFR rules, processes, roles (purchasing officer, local purchasing committee etc.) are mandatory requirements. The GFR rules needs to be applied into the application workflow of e‐tendering process. eProcurement application /system (EPS) should be designed as per defined workflow with adequate security measures.

2.Security requirements

The key requirement of procurement in public service organization is to maintain the confidentiality & integrity of the information in procurement life cycle to protect the interest of buyer & supplier and to encourage the competitiveness in the business. The eProcurement platform transacts confidential procurement data and is exposed to several security threats. This requires employing a combination of security technologies and security best practices which result in reduced threat of data loss, leakage or manipulation. In eProcurement application/system Class 3 Digital Certificate (Signature or Encryption or both) should only be used.

3.Vigilance Guidelines

The system should meet the requirements of guidelines issued from time to time by Central Vigilance Commission.

4.System Adaptability & customization

EPS need to have templates to offer flexibility in bidding methodologies as prevailing and followed currently in the manual process. Further, system should have templates to adopt bidding methodologies as may be prescribed by respective authorities

Compliance to relevant requirements of IT Act 2000

Downloads

Guidelines for Compliance to Quality Requirements of e-Procurement Systems 803.44 KB

Application Form 200.81 KB

Certification Agreement Document Issue 1.0 Jan2017 278.71 KB

EPS_Surveillance Audit Guidelines Document V2.0 May 2024 842.44 KB

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