The CEO of the Government's e-Marketplace (GeM) PK Singh told CNBC-TV18 that anomalies were observed in some government orders valued between Rs 25,000 to Rs 5 lakh, where collusive behaviour between buyers and sellers was noticed as many had logged in from the same IP addresses. Notices have been issued to several government departments over anomalies in placing orders via the GeM portal.
While Singh noted that it can't be confirmed for now whether such instances were bonafide mistakes as replies were awaited, he said that the government may take action if the departments are held guilty of malafide in placement of orders.
The government rules allow for direct purchase of goods up to Rs 25,000 for official use, while products priced between Rs 25,000 to Rs 5 lakh are to be purchased from the L1 (lowest bidder). For orders above Rs 5 lakh in value, procurement is made via bidding and reverse auction on the GeM portal.
GeM is aiming to increase pro-rata procurement by government departments and CPSEs to 75 percent on its portal by August 15. Singh informed that the assessment of potential for GeM purchases has been conveyed by concerned ministries and Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), while the portal's assessment for central ministries and the top 50 CPSEs is Rs 1.8 lakh crore on what can be made GeM-able.
With over 60,000 government buyers already on the GeM portal and 8 lakh cooperatives to be on-boarded in August, Singh said that for now there are no plans to allow buyers from the private sector on to the platform. He added that GeM is very soon going to plan a formal hackathon to test its robust security system which is yet to be breached.
GeM has also red flagged the issue of same set of sellers participating in government bids, even as it faces challenges in participation in tenders, laying down of additional terms by government buyers on the portal as well as hiring from the IT sector. Singh feels that government departments need to be more vigilant and keep an internal oversight mechanism in place to ensure that they don't breach terms of "country of origin" for products and the custom bid goes through the dos and don'ts.
First Published: Jul 27, 2022 7:50 PM IST
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