Appendix-II to Special Conditions of Contract (SCC)
1.0 Code of Integrity for Public Procurement
1.1 Employer as well as bidders, suppliers, contractors and consultants should observe
the highest standard of ethics and should not indulge in the following prohibited
practices, either directly or indirectly, at any stage during the procurement process or
during execution of resultant contracts:
i) “Corrupt practice”: making offers, solicitation or acceptance of bribe, rewards
or gifts or any material benefit, in exchange for an unfair advantage in the
procurement process or to otherwise influence the procurement process or
contract execution;
ii) “Fraudulent practice”: any omission or misrepresentation that may mislead or
attempt to mislead so that financial or other benefits may be obtained or an
obligation avoided. This includes making false declaration or providing false
information for participation in a tender process or to secure a contract or in
execution of the contract;
iii) “Anti-competitive practice”: any collusion, bid rigging or anti-competitive
arrangement, or any other practice coming under the purview of The
Competition Act, 2002, between two or more bidders, with or without the
knowledge of the Employer, that may impair the transparency, fairness and the
progress of the procurement process or to establish bid prices at artificial, non-
competitive levels;
iv) “Coercive practice”: harming or threatening to harm, persons or their property
to influence their participation in the procurement process or affect the
execution of a contract;
v) “Conflict of interest”: any personal, financial, or business relationship between
the bidder and any personnel of the procuring entity who are directly or
indirectly related to the procurement or execution process of the contract,
which can affect the decision of the procuring entity directly or indirectly.
vi) “Undue Advantage”: improper use of information obtained by the bidder from
the procuring entity with an intent to gain an unfair advantage in the
procurement process or for personal gain. This also includes if the bidder (or
his allied firm) provided services for the need assessment/ procurement
planning of the tender process in which it is participating;
vii) “Obstructive practice”: materially impede the Employer’s investigation into
allegations of one or more of the above mentioned prohibited practices either
by deliberately destroying, falsifying, altering; or by concealing of evidence
material to the investigation; or by making false statements to investigators
and/or by threatening, harassing or intimidating any party to prevent it from
disclosing its knowledge of matters relevant to the investigation or from
pursuing the investigation; or by impeding the Employer’s rights of audit or
access to information.
1.2 Obligations for Proactive Disclosures
i) POWERGRID as well as bidders, suppliers, contractors and consultants, are
obliged under Code of Integrity for Public Procurement to suo-moto proactively
declare any conflicts of interest (coming under the definition mentioned above
– pre-existing or as and as soon as these arise at any stage) in any
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Appendix-II to Special Conditions of Contract (SCC)
procurement process or execution of contract. Failure to do so would amount
to violation of this code of integrity; and
ii) Any bidder must declare, whether asked or not in a bid document, any
previous transgressions of such a code of integrity with any entity in any
country during the last three years or of being debarred by any other procuring
entity. Failure to do so would amount to violation of this code of integrity.
iii) To encourage voluntary disclosures, such declarations would not mean
automatic disqualification for the bidder making such declarations. The
declared conflict of interest may be evaluated and mitigation steps, if possible,
may be taken by POWERGRID. Similarly voluntary reporting of previous
transgressions of Code of Integrity elsewhere may be evaluated and barring
cases of various grades of debarment, an alert watch may be kept on the
bidder’s actions in the tender and subsequent contract.
1.3 Punitive Provisions: Without prejudice to and in addition to the rights of
POWERGRID to other penal provisions as per the Bidding Documents or Contract, if
POWERGRID comes to a conclusion that a (prospective) bidder/supplier, directly or
through an agent, has violated this code of integrity in competing for the contract or
in executing a contract, POWERGRID may take appropriate measures including one
or more of the following:
i) if the bid(s) is under consideration in any procurement
a) Forfeiture or encashment of Bid Security
b) calling off of any pre-contract negotiations, and;
c) rejection and exclusion of the bidder from the procurement process
ii) if a contract has already been awarded
a) Cancellation/termination of the contract in question;
b) Forfeiture or encashment of Contract Performance Guarantee (CPG) of
the contract in question;
iii) Provisions in addition to above:
a) Removal from the list of registered suppliers and banning/debarment of
the bidder/contractor from participation in future procurements in line
with POWERGRID’s policy for “Black-Listing of Firms / Banning of
Business”.
b) In case of anti-competitive practices, information for further processing
may be filed with the Competition Commission of India;
c) Initiation of suitable disciplinary or criminal proceedings against any
individual or staff found responsible.
1.4 In pursuance to this policy, the Employer will have the right to require that the
provision be included in Bidding Documents and in contracts, requiring Bidders,
suppliers, and contractors and their sub-contractors to permit the Employer to
inspect their accounts and records and other documents relating to bid submission
and contract performance under this project only and to have them audited by
auditors appointed by the Employer.
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