Kathmandu. The government has made significant changes in the public procurement process and has made a provision for publishing the notice of call for tenders through the electronic procurement system no longer compulsorily in newspapers.

This provision has been implemented by amending the Public Procurement Act, 2063 through an ordinance.

Earlier, Clause 14 of the Act had the provision to publish the notice of tender or pre-qualification in the national daily.

After the amendment, there is a clear provision that the information called for through the electronic purchase system will not be required to be published in other mediums. However, in case the e-GP is not adopted, the information should be posted on the website of the concerned office and the website of the Procurement Monitoring Office.

Strict action against businessmen who delay the contract

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The amended Act has made it more stringent for contractors or suppliers who delay the work.

Now, if the contract is terminated without completion, the entire performance guarantee will be forfeited. In addition, the additional financial burden will be on the responsibility of the concerned businessman as per the updated cost required by the public body to complete the unfinished work. This amount will be recovered as government dues.

The amendment has also simplified the variation process in public procurement. If there is a situation that cannot be predicted, necessary variations can be made in the scope, design or quantity of work. The right to approve variations is as follows.

Up to 5 percent of the posts can be made by the third class chief, up to 10 percent by the gazetted second class employees, up to 15 percent by the gazetted first class employees and above 15 percent by departmental heads.

Earlier, variations above 15 percent required the approval of the secretary level and more than 25 percent of the cabinet, which has now been removed.