CAG exposes discrepancies in Tamil Nadu’s eProcurement system

CHENNAI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found various discrepancies in the eProcurement system from bid collusions, bidders with family relationships, bid submission from procuring entity computers and different bidders placing bids for a tender from the same IP address in the tendering process.

In the Performance Audit on the Implementation of the eProcurement system in Tamil Nadu tabled in Assembly here, CAG said the eProcurement system does not restrict prospective eligible bidders from bidding for a tender published in the eProcurement portal. Data analysis of 1.34 lakh tenders published in the eProcurement portal between April 2016 and March 2022 disclosed that 0.62 lakh tenders (46.27 per cent) received only two bids, it said. “Five to sixteen per cent pair of bidders participated in 33 to 64 per cent of tenders indicating limited participation of bidders and the likelihood of collusive bidding by participating bidders,” it said, adding that in DRDA, Perambalur and TNCSC, six pairs participated in 169 and 113 tenders respectively. “In these tenders, the contracts were shared between the two participating bidders in the ratio of 50:50 in DRDA, Perambalur and 55:45 in TNCSC,” it said.

CAG said that analysis of the bids has revealed bidders have a family relationship or same group of companies. The eProcurement system captures the IP Address of the computer from which a bid is placed. “In DRDA, Salem, 73 per cent of tenders (1,265 out of 1,741 tenders) which reached the financial evaluation stage in the eProcurement system during 2016-22, were uploaded from the IP addresses of DRDA, Salem,” it said.

It noted that Data analysis of tenders processed through the eProcurement system revealed that out of 1.34 lakh tenders published in the portal, in 0.44 lakh tenders (33 per cent) the number of bids submitted from the same IP address for a tender ranged from 2 to 33.

There was no ‘Centre of responsibility’ to co-ordinate and monitor the functions of the eProcurement portal despite a lapse of more than 15 years since its implementation, it said.

As of December 2022, the 53 procuring entities that utilised the GePNIC portal during 2016-22 published 1.78 lakh tenders with a total value of Rs 2,15,060 crore. However, it was seen that even among the 53 procuring units that took to GePNIC, the utilisation of the eProcurement portal was only partial. “In six selected units, only 21.06 per cent (Rs 1,255.54 crore) of the total procurement (Rs 5,959.70 crore) was carried out through the eProcurement portal during 2019-22. The Government did not issue specific instructions to carry out all procurements through the GePNIC portal,” the CAG said.