GeM has signed an MoU with CSC-SPV

Feb 04: More than 5.2 lakhs Common Service Centers [CSC] and approx. 1.5 lakh India Post offices across India are being trained to assist last-mile Government buyers, sellers and service providers with buyer/ seller registration, product catalogue upload and management, order acceptance, fulfilment and invoice generation functionality on the GeM portal, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Smt. Anupriya Patel said in reply to a Parliament Question today.

GeM has signed a Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] with Common Service Centre e-Governance Services India Ltd. [CSC-SPV], and the Department of Post, Government of India, for the advocacy, outreach, mobilization, and capacity-building of last-mile Government buyers, sellers and service providers in public procurement through the GeM portal.

 The Government sponsored Sale- Purchase Service Portal-GeM through the Common Service Centre of the Department of Posts and India Post shall be beneficial for buyers, sellers and service providers as under:- 

1. More than 5.2 lakhs Common Service Centers [CSC] and approx. 1.5 lakh India Post offices across India are being trained to assist last-mile Government buyers, sellers and service providers with buyer/ seller registration, product catalogue upload and management, order acceptance, fulfilment and invoice generation functionality on the GeM portal.
2. Value-added services such as photography of product images, packaging, logistics and shipment of packages through Speed Post and Business Parcel will be provided through the India Post website. Online, print and office communication channels will also be delivered to sellers and service providers at charges defined by CSC and the Department of Post. GeM Services offered through CSCs will be made available to all Government buyers at no charge.
3. Rates for packaging materials and shipment of packages through Speed Post and Business Parcel through the India Post website, online, print and office communication channels will be shared with CSCs.
4. Further, the Department of Post will ensure the availability of India Post packaging material including boxes, BOPP tapes, bubble-wrap, flyers and air sacks in-store at the nearest post offices, facilitate the pick-up, transmission and delivery of Speed Post and Business Parcel as per standards defined by Department of Post, and ensure priority processing of all GeM labelled packages.
5. No charges will be levied on sellers/service providers for the following services;
   1. Buyer Registration – For single-state and multi-state Cooperative Societies
   2. Seller Registration and Account Updation (with all KYC details)
6. Charges to be paid by sellers and service providers for;
   1. Product/ Service Catalogue Upload & Management, and
   2. Value-added Services at Actuals (Packaging & logistics at CSC and India Post)

GeM has implemented various features and functionalities in an effort to increase transparency in public procurement. Some of these initiatives include-

1. Providing a challenge rejection window to sellers who have been marked as disqualified in a bid by a buyer,
2. Sellers are given the feature to raise representation against any bid if the seller finds bidding parameters restrictive in any manner
3. Results of technical and financial evaluation of bids floated on GeM are published in the public domain.
4. To provide a contactless platform where contact details of buyers and sellers are masked till placement of contract,
5. Blocking of funds in GPA against a contract to ensure timely payment,
6. Display of data of all contracts in the public domain.
7. Masking of details of buyers and sellers in incidents while decision making
8. Sending notifications of bids to all registered sellers under the relevant category by email/SMS
9. System-based checks and balances at appropriate places to avoid deviation from GTC to a possible extent.
10. Finalization of specifications through consultative committee meeting process through consultation with relevant stakeholders.
11. API-based integrations for fetching the data at various stages from the source database of the nodal department/ministry.

Disclaimer: We donot claim that the images used as part of the news published are always owned by us. From time to time, we use images sourced as part of news or any related images or representations. Kindly take a look at our image usage policy on how we select the image that are used as part of the news.