New Delhi, Feb 23 (PTI) Consulting engineers' body FIDIC on Monday said it has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to implement amended general financial rules for awarding government contracts based on bidders' quality assurance instead of selecting bids with the lowest cost offering.
The amended general financial rules (GFR) allow quality-cum-cost-based-selection (QCBS) of bidders for awarding government contracts, including those related to infrastructure projects and procurement of goods.
It is no longer necessary to award work on the basis of the least cost offered, nor is it necessary to have a minimum of two quotes to compare rates, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) said in a statement.
Works can now be awarded at the lowest workable rates and not on the basis of the least cost offered. Contracts can also be awarded on a single quotation, explained K K Kapila, President Emeritus, International Road Federation (IRF), who has earlier served as FIDIC's ambassador for the Asia-Pacific region.
According to the amended GFR, projects can be awarded or goods can be procured on the basis of Quality-cum-Cost-Based-Selection (QCBS), where quality has 30 per cent weightage and cost carries 70 per cent weight.
Despite the amendments, government projects are being awarded to the lowest bidder. The contracting agency has been quoting obnoxiously low rates, which results in poor quality of work, elongated arbitration and long-drawn court cases, said Kapila, also a former president of the Indian Buildings Congress (IBC).
Kapila, who earlier served as the president of the Consulting Engineers Association of India (CEAI), suggested that the quality-cum-cost criteria should be implemented uniformly across all ministries and departments.
He has requested the prime minister to issue necessary directions to all secretaries of various ministries to immediately adopt the QCBS provision for all public works and procurement processes.