REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
FOR
Development, Commissioning and Maintenance of
Students Examination
Life Cycle Management System
Issued on: 23rd March 2015
THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS OF INDIA
(ICAI)
NEW DELHI
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION NO. Particulars Page
No
TENDER NOTICE ( Press) 3
Relevant Information at a glance 4
I TENDER NOTICE(Website) 5-7
II BACKGROUND 8-9
III ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA 10-11
IV SCOPE OF THE WORK 11-16
V INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS 17-19
VI GENERAL CONDITIONS OF THE CONTRACT 20-25
VII BID OPENING, EVALUATION PROCESS AND 26
SELECTION PROCEDURE
Annexure-A COVERING LETTER 27-28
Annexure-B TECHNICAL BID 29
Annexure-C FINANCIAL BID 30
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TENDER NOTICE
Request for Proposal (RFP) for
Development, Commissioning and Maintenance of Students
Examination Life Cycle Management System
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) invites proposals
from reputed and experienced Service Providers for developing,
commissioning and maintaining a web enabled Students Examination Life
Cycle Management Solution. Interested parties may visit www.icai.org for
more details. Last date for submission of bid is 9th April 2015.
Acting Secretary, ICAI
3
Relevant Information at a Glance
Activities Date
Pre bid meeting At 3.00 P.M. on 30th March 2015
ICAI Bhawan
C-1, Sector I,
NOIDA 201 301
EMD Rs 1,00,000/- by way of Demand Draft drawn
in favour of the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of India, payable at New Delhi
Last date and address for On or before 2.00 p.m. on 9th April 2015
submission of bids addressed to
The Deputy Secretary (Exams)
The Institute of Chartered Accountants
of India,
ICAI Bhawan,
C-1, Sector-1,
NOIDA 201 301
Opening of the Technical At 3.00 p.m. on 10th April 2015 at
Bid
ICAI Bhawan
C-1 Sector 1
NOIDA 201 301
Rates Rate quoted should be:
One time registration cost:
For maintenance of student records through the
life cycle of the candidate in the examination
process-as rate per candidate
Transaction Processing costs ( For processing
of transactions in each exam cycle )- as rate per
successful application ( with break up for
different stages/tasks of the process)
ICAI is exempt from payment of service tax
Project to be completed Phase I-By 1st July 2015
and commissioned by Phase II-By 1st January 2016
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SECTION-I
TENDER NOTICE (WEBSITE)
Proposals (RFPs) are invited by ICAI in sealed covers (Techno- commercial
and Financial bids) from reputed and experienced Service Providers for
Development, Commissioning and Maintenance of a web enabled Students
Examination Life Cycle Management System.
It would include a web portal which can be accessed by a candidate through
a secure user ID and password for creation of his profile with photograph
and signature and would inter-alia include all pre exam and post exam
student activities.
Pre examination activities would inter alia include submission of
examination applications, making payment of exam fees through payment
gateway, submission of corrections in the exam forms, requests for change
of centre/group/medium, roll number generation, hosting of exemptions
granted to candidates, generation of admit cards, hosting of admit cards and
generation of attendance registers.
Post examination activities would inter alia include, hosting of results,
hosting of mark sheets of the examinations, submission of requests for
verification / certified copies of answer books relating to CA examinations,
hosting of scanned copies of answer books sought by the candidates, online
submission of requests for issue of duplicate mark sheets/pass
certificates/transcripts, on line submission of requests for verification of
qualifications, hosting the outcome of such requests etc.
PLEASE SUBMIT ALL DOCUMENTS IN DUPLICATE / XEROX
COPIES INCLUDING PART I & PART II.
S. Name of Project Development, Commissioning and Maintenance of
No Web Portal
1 Scope of Work As per Section IV
3. Cost of RFP Nil
Document
4 Earnest Money Earnest Money Deposit of Rs.1,00,000/-(Rupees one
Deposit lakh only) in the form of Demand Draft in favour of
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"Secretary, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of
India" payable at Delhi.
5. Availability of RFP At ICAI's Website www.icai.org
Document
6. Last date, time and 9th April 2015 up to 2.00 p.m. addressed to
address for
submission of tenders The Deputy Secretary (Exams)
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India,
ICAI Bhawan, C-1, Sector-1, NOIDA 201 301
7. Pre-bid meeting Pre-bid meeting will be held at 3.00 p.m. on 30th
March 2015 at, C-1, Sector-1, NOIDA-201301
8. Date of opening the The Technical bids shall be opened in the office at C-1,
Technical Bid Sector 1, NOIDA 201301 at 3.00 p.m. on 10th April
(Cover-1) 2015 even if bidders are not present.
9. Date of opening of After evaluating the technical bids on ICAI's
Financial bid (Cover Parameters, the Financial bids of successful bidders
2) shall be opened on same or any other date as per
discretion of the ICAI as notified/informed even if
tenderers are not present.
10. Validity of offer 90 days from the last date for submission of bids.
Note:
1. A Bidder shall not be allowed to submit more than one Bid.
2. Bidder should have valid Service Tax registration number and meet all
legal requirements.
3. The Bidder will NOT sub-let the work or its coordination to any other
party/sister-concern.
4. Any amendment / corrigendum to the RFP document shall be posted on
the ICAI's Website www.icai.org.
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5. The ICAI reserves the right to call for any other details or information
from any of the Bidders.
6. ICAI reserves all rights to reject any bid at any time, at any stage, fully or
partly for whole process and / or for particular bidder and also reserves all
rights at any time to add, alter, modify, change, edit & delete any condition
at any stage. ICAI also reserves the right to cancel the entire tender process
without assigning any reason. In this regard, the decision of ICAI shall be
final and binding on all the participants.
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SECTION II
Background
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is a statutory body
established by the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 for regulating the
profession of Chartered Accountancy in India. During its over more than
six decades of existence, ICAI has achieved recognition as a premier
accounting body not only in the country but also globally, for its
contribution in the fields of education, conducting course and exams
leading to membership, professional development, maintenance of high
accounting, auditing and ethical standards. ICAI now is the second largest
accounting body in the world.
The ICAI invites proposals from reputed organization/s for developing and
Maintenance of a web enabled Students Examination Life Cycle
Management System.
It would include a web portal which can be accessed by a candidate through
a secure user ID and password for creation of his profile with photograph
and signature and would inter-alia include all pre exam and post exam
student activities.
Pre examination activities would inter alia include submission of
examination applications, making payment of exam fees through payment
gateway, submission of corrections in the exam forms, requests for change
of centre/group/medium, roll number generation, hosting of exemptions
granted to candidates, generation of admit cards, hosting of admit cards, and
generation of attendance registers.
Post examination activities would inter alia include, hosting of results,
hosting of mark sheets of the examinations, submission of requests for
verification / certified copies of answer books relating to CA examinations,
hosting of scanned copies of answer books sought by the candidates, online
submission of requests for issue of duplicate mark sheets/pass
certificates/transcripts, on line submission of requests for verification of
qualifications, hosting the outcome of such requests etc.
ICAI conducts examinations, at three levels, of the Chartered Accountancy
Course:
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Common Proficiency Test (CPT ) - of the nature of an entrance test
Intermediate (IPC) examination.
Final examination.
CPT is a one day test, held twice a year, generally in the second week of
June and December. Intermediate and Final exams are held twice a year,
generally, in the first fortnight of May and November.
Submission of exam application forms commences around the first week of
February/August for Final and Intermediate (IPC) exams held in
May/November exams respectively. Admit cards for Final/ Intermediate
exams are to be hosted in April/October correspondingly.
Submission of exam application forms commences around the first week of
April/October for CPT for June/December CPT exams respectively. Admit
cards for CPT are to be hosted in May/Nov.
Results of May exams are generally declared in July and that of November
exams are declared in January.
Results of June CPT is generally declared around the third week of July and
the December CPT around the third week of January.
The window for submission of exam application forms is open for a period
of four weeks. After a gap of one week, the correction window, whereby the
candidates are allowed to correct errors if any in the forms submitted by
them earlier, is open for one week.
The current volume of online submission of examination application forms
is around 4,50,000 per exam cycle. Volume of submission of
verification/Certified copies of answer books is around 50,000 for each
exam cycle.
An examination cycle covers Intermediate, Final examination and CPT held
in May/June or November/December as the case may be. An examination
cycle is deemed to commence from the date when the online window opens
for submission of examination applications for the forthcoming exams. An
examination cycle is deemed to come to an end when the next examination
commences, i.e. 1st May or 1st November as the case may be.
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SECTION III
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
This invitation to respond is open to individuals/partnership firm /company
which are engaged in web development and maintenance activities.
The eligible entities must be incorporated and registered under the Indian
Companies Act, 1956 or 2013 or The Partnership Act, 1932 or under
relevant law.
The parent company of any subsidiary company, which is seeking
qualification on the financial strength of its parent company, would have to
give a written undertaking that it would bear all financial or contractual
liabilities of the subsidiary with regards to this tender and contractual
obligations there under and the subsidiary has been authorized by them to
submit the tender for and on their behalf.
The parent company of any subsidiary company, which is seeking
qualification on the technical strength of its parent company, would have to
give a written undertaking that its technical capabilities/ resources would be
available to the subsidiary company as and when required for the completion
of the subject contract.
Along with the General Eligibility criteria, bidder has to satisfy the
following criteria also.
1. The bidder should have valid registration No. of CST / VAT,
Service Tax and PAN No. (copies to be enclosed).
2. The bidder should have handled a minimum of 10 similar
assignments in the past; out of which it should be currently
handling, atleast two assignments of other examination bodies,
covering more than 50,000 candidates each.
3. The bidder should have an average annual turnover of at least Rs.
50 Crores (Rupees fifty Crores only) during last three financial
years. Only the professional fees towards consultancy
work/services provided will be accounted for. Copies of the P&L
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Account and Balance Sheet duly certified by a Chartered
Accountant must be enclosed with the tender.
4. The Bidder should have CMMI Certification (Level 4 and above).
5. The bidder should have never been blacklisted/ barred by any
Govt. Deptt./ regulator/statutory body.
6. The bidder should have an office at Delhi or NCR and should have
support staff based in Delhi/NCR.
How to apply:
Organisation/s desirous of applying may download the prescribed
application form from the site, fill up the same and submit it along with the
following documents duly signed:
List of similar assignments handled in the past with the actual number
of candidates in each such project.
List of similar assignment of examination bodies being currently
handled, covering more than 50,000 candidates each.
Organisation information
Name and postal address including telephone, fax numbers etc.
Copies of original documents defining the legal status, place of
registration and principal places of business
Names and titles of Directors and officers to be concerned with the
work with designation of individuals authorized to act on behalf of the
organization
Information on any litigation in which the applicant was involved
during the last 3 years including any current litigation
Earnest Money Deposit (interest free) of Rs 1,00,000/- by way of a
demand draft drawn in favour of the "Secretary, The Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India", payable at New Delhi.
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SECTION -IV
Part I
Brief description of the process flow in respect of the Pre exam
Activities
1. Students have the option of applying for the exam online or
offline.
2. Nearly 98% of the applications received are online.
3. Students who apply online are required to make payment of exam
fees online through the payment gateway.
4. Online applicants will be required to upload their photographs and
signatures online.
5. Online applicants will be required to print the PDF of the exam
forms submitted online, affix their photograph and signature on the
print out, get them attested by the designated authority and send
them by Speed Post to us.
6. In case the photos and signatures uploaded lack clarity, the service
provider will be required to scan them and upload them on the
databse.
7. Physical applications in OMR form with the demand drafts (
towards the exam fees) will have to be scanned for capturing data
and photographs and signatures.
8. It is found that some candidates while filling up the examination
application form (either online or physical ) do not exercise
reasonable care and commit errors. After submitting examination
application forms, they seek change of Centre/Group/Medium, on
account of errors committed by them in the examination
application forms. With a view to provide an opportunity to the
candidates to correct such errors made by them while submitting
their examination application forms, an online Correction Window
is to be provided to the candidates.
9. The salient features of the correction window facility are as
follows:
Manual applications seeking change of Centre/Group/Medium will
not be entertained.
This facility is to be provided to all candidates( both online and
OMR form applicants)
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This online facility will be available to the candidates, in two
separate sessions. The first opportunity (called "Correction
Window") will be free of cost and the second opportunity ( called
"Corrections with fee-Window") will be for a fee. This window
will have payment gateway integration.
10.Candidates should be able to check the status of their request/s
from the same website.
11.Generation of roll numbers
12.Allocation of candidates to centres
13.Generation of Admit Cards
14.Hosting of Admit cards
15.Hosting of details relating to "Exemptions" granted to a candidate
relevant for each exam.
Brief description of the Post Result activities: (Exam to exam)
Students have the option of applying online or offline seeking verification of
marks and for copies of answer books and also pay the applicable fee online.
Such applications aggregate 50,000 per exam cycle.
Post examination activities would inter alia include the following:
1. Hosting the examination results
2. Hosting of mark sheets of the examinations
3. Online submission of requests for verification / certified copies of
answer books relating to CA examinations
4. Hosting of scanned copies of answer books sought by the candidates
5. On-line submission of requests for issue of duplicate mark sheets/pass
certificates/transcripts
6. On line submission of requests for verification of qualifications
7. Hosting the outcome of such requests
Brief description of other on-going activities: (Round the year)
Students have an option of applying for issue of duplicate mark sheets, pass
certificates, transcripts etc . Further, ICAI exam dept. also handles
applications seeking verification of qualifications. As of now, they are
submitted physically. It is proposed that they should be given an option to
apply online as well. The online facility should have payment gateway
integration.
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Part II
SCOPE OF WORK
A. Development of a web enabled software application for handling
the following activities:
Creation of a profile of each candidate with his photograph and
specimen signature, ( either from the online forms or from the
physical forms) and building up a data base, updating the same every
exam cycle and maintain the history of each candidate
Handle all pre examination activities which would inter alia include
submission of examination applications, making payment of exam
fees through payment gateway, submission of corrections in the exam
forms, requests for change of centre/group/medium, roll number
generation, hosting of exemptions granted to candidates, generation of
admit cards, hosting of admit cards and generation of attendance
registers.
Handle all Post examination activities which would inter alia include,
hosting of results, hosting of mark sheets of the examinations,
submission of requests for verification / certified copies of answer
books relating to CA examinations, hosting of scanned copies of
answer books sought by the candidates, online submission of requests
for issue of duplicate mark sheets/pass certificates/transcripts, on line
submission of requests for verification of qualifications, hosting the
outcome of such requests etc.
E-mail/SMS integration/Students Database integration
E-mail and Telephone Help Desk support for handling student queries
relating to the above
Generation of various reports as desired.
Service provider shall capture the work requirements in consultation
with ICAI.
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It would involve the following:
1. Host the on-line application in Service provider's own servers at
Category III or above Data Center and provide the URLs of the
application, for access through internet.
2. Provide access to the portal to the students from the appointed date
and time for such period/extended period, as is stipulated by ICAI.
3. Ensure sufficient bandwidth and servers of such capacity which can
handle the data traffic of up to 5,00,000 registrations in any exam
cycle, with 6000 concurrent hits at any given point of time.
4. Ensure that the portal is functional without any interruption during
periods of peak load in the last few days of submission of the
application forms (whether without or with late fee).
5. Provide help line support to the candidates for resolution of any
technical or operational issues, by flashing the phone numbers and
email-ids of the contact personnel on the home page and in all
communications
6. Provide access to the portal to the ICAI staff for administrative
purposes like refunds and generation of various reports through the
admin module, even after the portal is closed for fresh registrations.
B. Technical support
1. Resolve all technical issues whenever they arise, within the time
frame as may be deemed necessary by ICAI, based on the criticality
of the matter.
2. Station a Technical Coordinator at the Exam Dept of ICAI to
coordinate and provide timely solutions, from at least 15 days prior to
the opening of the registration window to students, till the data is
handed over, including identifying the refund cases. It may be noted
that any wrong receipts/refunds shall invite a deduction from the
service provider's payment.
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3. Provide certain minimal technical support, during the remaining
period.
C. Maintenance
Service Provider will build and maintain the data base of candidates
from one exam cycle to another and provide such reports that may be
required by ICAI from time to time. Indicative number of reports that
may be required will be around 30, based on past experience.
However, the number may undergo change, depending on the
evolution of the project.
Maintain the history of registration data of the previous concluded
examination sessions and provide access to ICAI through the admin
module
Hand over the data dump to ICAI, before disposal of the data from the
portal.
Provide, maintain and upgrade hardware/software and the operating
system at your own cost of the required specifications/capacity for the
smooth functioning of the on-line application process during the
tenure of this contract.
Incorporate such changes/modification as required by ICAI in the
application, as and when required.
Provide access to the portal to the users from the appointed date and
time for such period/extended period, as is stipulated by ICAI and its
separate admin areas for the ADMINs appointed at ICAI.
Provide e-mail helpline support to the users for resolution of any
technical or operational issues, by flashing the phone numbers and
email-ids of the contact personnel on the home page and in all
communications at their premises(s)
Service Provider to get the software application security audited by an
agency empanelled with NIC and furnish the audit certificate
annually, at no extra cost to ICAI.
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SECTION V
INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS
1. Every page of the RFP document shall be signed by the bidder or by a
person duly authorized by the bidder.
2. Bidder shall submit letter of authorization, authorizing the person
signing the RFP document on behalf of the bidder.
3. All changes, alterations, corrections in the RFP document shall be
signed in full by the person(s) signing the RFP document, with date. No
eraser and/or over writing without authentications is/are permissible.
4. The complete RFP document along with the documentary evidence
should be numbered.
5. The Bidder shall submit its RFP in two (2) parts, namely; Part-I will
contain Technical Bid (as enclosed as Annexure-B) and Part-II will
contain Financial Bid (as enclosed as Annexure-C) in separate
envelopes. Technical Bid and Financial Bid shall be submitted on the
Bidder's letter head.
6. The Financial bid shall be in two parts: a) One time Registration
charges( quoted as rate per candidate) and b) Processing charges for each
exam cycle (quoted as rate per application/request submitted successfully
by the candidates). Please note that the ICAI is exempt from payment of
service tax.
7. RFP shall accompany a covering letter in the prescribed format as given
in Annexure A and shall also have the relevant documents including
documentary evidences.
8. Bidder must submit the original `Technical' and `Financial Bid'. Each
bid should be sealed separately and put again in a sealed envelope.
9. The Bids completed in all respects as specified in this RFP shall be
sent/submitted by post/courier to
The Deputy Secretary (Exams)
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India,
17
ICAI Bhawan,
C-1, Sector-1, NOIDA 201 301
Uttar Pradesh.
10. The Bids shall be valid for a period of 90 days from the last date for
submission of the Bid.
11. Date & Time of submission of Bid: Till 9th April 2015 up to 2.00
p.m.
12. The complete bid document should be submitted before due date and
time as given at Clause 11 above. Bid received after the stated time and
date would not be considered and are liable for rejection.
13. The ICAI reserves the right to accept or reject any/all the bid(s)
including the lowest bid without assigning any reason and no
correspondence in this regard shall be entertained. The ICAI takes no
responsibility for delay, loss, or non-receipt of response to this RFP.
14. A Pre-bid meeting will be held at 3.00 P.M. on 30th March 2015 at the
Examination Dept. of ICAI located at C-1, Sector 1, NOIDA 201 301, to
brief the prospective service providers about the requirements of ICAI
and to clarify their doubts, if any.
15. The bidder shall carefully examine and understand the scope of work,
specifications/conditions of RFP and seek written clarifications, if
required, to ensure that they have understood all scope of work,
specifications/conditions of RFP.
16. The bidders should have presence in India with one of their offices in
Delhi/NCR, until completion of the contract. The Bidder shall authorize
a representative for interacting with the ICAI during evaluation of the
Bid.
17. The successful Bidder shall be required to enter into an Agreement
with the ICAI, within fifteen (15) days from the date of receipt of letter
of intent or within such extended period, as may be specified by the ICAI
in this regard.
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18. Submission of illegible documents shall lead to disqualification of the
bidder.
19. Date & Time of opening of Bids: Technical Bid shall be opened on
th
10 April 2015 at 3.00 p.m. and the date and time of opening of
Financial Bid shall be communicated to the short listed bidders.
20. The bid must be accompanied with earnest money deposit (interest
free) for the amount indicated in the Notice Inviting RFP in the form of a
Demand Draft drawn on any Nationalized Bank in favor of Secretary,
ICAI payable at Delhi. Tenders not accompanied with EMD shall be
summarily rejected.
21. If the bidder, after submission, revokes his bid or modifies the terms
and conditions thereof during the validity of his bid except where the
ICAI has given opportunity to do so, the earnest money deposit submitted
by Bidder shall, in such case, be forfeited. The Earnest Money Deposit of
unsuccessful bidders shall be returned within reasonable time, after
award of contract.
22. The bidder organizations may be required to make a presentation before
the selection committee of ICAI. The decision of this committee will be
final and binding.
23. ICAI may at any time cancel or withdraw the invitation to bid without
assigning any reason and the earnest money deposit submitted by Bidders
shall, in such case, be refunded to them.
24. The successful bidder i.e. Service Provider, within 15 days of receipt of
Letter of Intent or within such extended time as may be allowed by ICAI
in its discretion, shall submit a Performance Bank Guarantee for an
amount equal to 10% of the contract value having validity of 63 months.
In case of extension of maintenance contract, the Service Provider shall
submit a fresh Bank Guarantee for the Contract value covering the
extended period of AMC.
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SECTION VI
General Conditions of the Contract
1. Application
These general conditions shall apply to the extent that provisions in other
parts of the Contract do not supersede them. For interpretation of any clause
in the RFP or Contract Agreement, the interpretation/clarification of the
ICAI shall be final and binding on the Bidder.
2. RFP Clarifications
During technical evaluation of the bids, ICAI may, at its sole discretion, ask
Bidders for clarifications on their bids. Any word used in singular shall have
the connotation of plural as well.
3. Amendments in RFP
At any time prior to deadline for submission of bid, ICAI may for any
reason, modify the RFP. The Bidders having received the RFP shall be
notified of the amendments by posting the same at ICAI's Website
www.icai.org and such amendments shall be binding on them.
4. Partnership /Company
If the Bidder is a Partnership Firm/Company, the full particulars of the
composition of the firm in detail should be submitted along with name(s)
and address(es) of the partners, copy of the Articles of Association /Power of
Attorney/any other relevant document.
5. Disqualifications
The ICAI may, at its sole discretion and at any time during the evaluation of
Bid, disqualify any bidder, if the bidder has; Submitted the Bid documents
after the response deadline; Made misleading or false representations in the
forms, statements and attachments submitted in proof of the eligibility
requirements; Exhibited a record of poor performance such as abandoning
works, not properly completing the contractual obligations, inordinately
delaying completion or financial failures, etc. in any project in the preceding
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three years; submitted bid that is not accompanied by required
documentation or is non-responsive; Failed to provide clarifications related
thereto, when sought; Submitted more than one Bid; Declared ineligible by
the Government of India or any other body for corrupt and fraudulent
practices or blacklisted; or modified the terms and conditions of RFP.
6. Preparation of Bid
The Bidder shall comply with the following related information during
preparation of the Bid. The Bid and all associated correspondence shall be
written in English and shall conform to prescribed formats. Any
interlineations, erasures or over writings shall be valid only if they are
initialled by the authorized person signing the Bid. The Bid shall be typed or
written in indelible ink and shall be signed by the Bidder or duly authorized
person(s) to bind the Bidder to the contract. The letter of authorization shall
be indicated by written power of attorney and shall accompany the Bid.
Bidders are not permitted to modify, substitute, or withdraw bids after its
submission.
7. Submission, Receipts and Opening of Bids
Technical & Financial bids must be submitted in separate sealed envelops.
8. Deadline for submission of Bids
Bids from Bidders, complete in all respects must be received by the ICAI at
the address and by the date specified in the RFP.
9. Deliverables:
Data security, accessibility and confidentiality are critical factors of the
assignment. The process flow should be in accordance with the
requirements of the ICAI with adequate controls and safeguards to ensure
accuracy of data and reduce the transaction processing time. The work
shall be completed as per the time schedule prescribed by the ICAI.
The deliverables include the design documents based on the
specifications of ICAI and User Manual.
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The service provider shall safely hand over all the examination related
data of ICAI held by them, upon severance of the agreement.
10. Payment Schedule
Schedule of payments will be mutually agreed upon with the service
provider selected, at the time of entering into the agreement.
11. Right to Accept Bid
With regard to the RFP, the ICAI has the following rights:
a) Accept or reject any of the proposals, without assigning any reasons
thereof.
b) Ask for re-submission.
c) Request clarification from bidders.
d) to accept any Bid in whole or in part
e) reject whole process
12. Conflict of Interest
ICAI requires that Bidders should provide professional, objective, and
impartial advice and at all times hold the ICAI's interests paramount, strictly
avoid conflicts with other assignments/jobs or their own corporate interests .
13. Confidentiality
Nothing shall be disclosed by any bidder with any other person not officially
concerned with such process until the selection process is over. The undue
use by any Bidder of confidential information related to the process may
result in rejection of its Bid. Except with the prior written consent of the
ICAI, the Bidder(s) and its/their personnel shall not at any time
communicate to any person or entity any confidential information acquired
in the course of the Contract.
14. Standards of Performance
The selected Bidder i.e. Service Provider shall perform the services and
carry out their obligations under the Contract with due diligence and
efficiency. The Service Provider shall always act in respect of any matter
22
relating to this contract as faithful advisor to the ICAI. The Service Provider
shall always support and safeguard the legitimate interests of the ICAI in
any dealings with the third party.
15. Term
The project is expected to be implemented in two phases. Phase I would
include all pre examination activities and Phase II would include all post
examination activities.
Phase I of the project shall be developed and commissioned before 1st July
2015, in time for the November 2015 examinations. Phase II of the project
shall be developed and implemented before 1st January 2016.
The service contract shall be initially for a period of 5 years which may be
extended on mutually agreed terms and conditions by both the parties.
Should there be any change in ownership of the service provider, the service
provider will be required to take a "No objection Certificate" from the
Institute.
16. Assignments
The Service Provider shall not assign the work to any other
Agency/individual, in whole or in part, to perform its obligation under the
Contract, without the prior written consent of ICAI.
17. Liquidated Damages
If during the contract period, following problems are found, a Liquidated
damages @ 0.5% of contract value per week on each default and maximum
up to 5% of the total Contract value shall be imposed on the Service
Provider by the ICAI:
Quality of support is not up to the mark (till the quality is
improved to the required extent)
Delays in Maintenance and extending support. Not able to
execute the work as mutually agreed
Shifting of responsibilities and creating inordinate delays and
asking for unreasonable timeframe.
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Delays in extending support 24*7 and not supporting ICAI
during holidays.
If the delay is beyond 2 weeks then the ICAI may rescind the
Contract and shall be free to get the work done by another agency
at the risk and costs of the Service Provider.
The Service Provider is prohibited to earn any revenue of this site,
including any third party.
18. Termination
Either party has the right to terminate the contract by giving two years ( i.e
four exam cycles) prior written notice of termination to the other without
assigning any reason.
The ICAI may, by giving 15 days advance written notice to the Service
Provider, terminate the contract for the following -
for Default to perform obligations under the Contract or if the
quality is not as per the specifications/satisfaction of the ICAI
or in the event of non adherence to time schedule by the
Service Provider.
becomes incapable of or unable to perform the Contract; death
or dissolution of Service Provider or commencement of
liquidation or winding up proceedings or appointment of a
Receiver or insolvency of the Service Provider;
Service Provider assigns or sub-lets the work under the
contract without the prior written permission from the ICAI
Service Provider violating any of the terms and conditions of
the contract
However, the termination notice may be revoked provided the Service
Provider rectifies the default within notice period to the satisfaction of the
ICAI. No consequential damages shall be payable to the Service Provider in
the event of such termination.
19. Consequences of Termination
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Upon Termination of the Contract, the work undertaken by the Service
Provider shall become the property of the ICAI and all its rights shall vest in
the ICAI.
20. Resolution of Disputes
In case any dispute arises between the parties in relation to or in connection
with any of the terms and conditions of RFP or the contract arising
thereunder, in the first instance, the parties shall try to resolve the dispute
amicably, failing which the dispute shall be referred to arbitration. Each
party shall nominate one arbitrator and the two nominated arbitrators shall
nominate a Presiding Officer. In case of difference of opinion between the
two arbitrators, the matter shall be referred to the Presiding Officer for
resolution. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and any statutory
modification or re-enactment thereof, shall apply to these arbitration
proceedings. Arbitration proceedings shall be held at Delhi and the language
of the arbitration proceeding and that of all documents and communications
between the parties shall be in English. The decision of the arbitrator shall
be final and binding upon both the parties. All arbitration awards shall be in
writing and shall state the reasons for the award. The expenses of the
arbitration as determined by the panel of arbitrators shall be shared equally
by the parties.
21. Jurisdiction
Subject to the arbitration clause herein contained, all disputes between the
parties pertaining to this contract shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the
competent Courts at Delhi only.
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SECTION VII
Bid Opening, Evaluation Process and Selection Procedure
Evaluation Process
Response to this RFP would be evaluated in two phases. Initially technical
bids will be opened and evaluated. Those bidders who satisfy the technical
requirements of the work, as per the requirements/specifications and the
terms and conditions of this RFP, shall be short-listed. Financial bids shall
be opened only for the short-listed bidders who have qualified in the
technical bid.
Technical Evaluation
The bids will be technically evaluated on various components. Each
response to the RFP from each bidder will be judged on its own merit. As
part of the Technical Bid Evaluation, bidders may be required to
demonstrate to the ICAI, their works of similar nature, which forms part of
the knowledge base of the bidder for the work and also exhibits bidder's
domain expertise.
Financial Evaluation
The Financial bids of the short listed bidders will be evaluated on the basis
of the amount quoted in the Bid.
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Annexure-A
COVERING LETTER (ON THE BIDDER'S LETTER HEAD)
Date:
The Deputy Secretary (Exams)
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
ICAI Bhawan,
C-1, Sector-1, NOIDA 201 301
Uttar Pradesh.
Dear Sir,
Sub: Development, Commissioning and Maintenance of Students
Examination Life Cycle Management System
Having examined the RFP, I/we, M/s___________, offer our proposals for
the subject works and are in full conformity with the said RFP. We have
read the provisions of RFP and confirm that these are acceptable to us. We
further declare that additional conditions, variations, deviations, if any,
found in our bid shall not be given effect to.
We agree to abide by the terms and conditions of this Bid, including this
letter, the Technical and Financial Bid, the duly notarized written power of
attorney, and all attachments and it shall remain binding upon us and may be
accepted by you at any time before the expiry of the validity period.
I/We confirm having deposited one demand draft: -
Earnest Money of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) by Demand Draft
attached hereto
We hereby declare that all the information and statements made in this bid
are true and any misleading/false information contained in it may lead to our
disqualification.
We understand that you reserve the right to accept or reject any bid.
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Dated this [date / month / year]
Authorized Signatory (in full and initials):
Name and title of signatory:
Duly authorized to sign this Bid for and on behalf of [Name of Respondent]
Name of Firm:
Address:
Note: This will be enclosed in original along with both Technical &
Financial Bid.
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Annexure-B
TECHNICAL BID
(On the Letterhead of the Bidder)
1. Name of the Individual /Firm/Company:
2. Physical address:
3. Address of the company/Firm (Pl. Enclose Proof):
4. Contact details (Telephone/email/Fax):
5. Date of incorporation/registration (Pl. Enclose Proof, if applicable):
6. Date of commencement of business (Pl. Enclose Proof, if applicable):
7. Net worth of the company/firm ((Pl. Enclose Proof, If applicable):
8. Name(s) of the directors/Partners:
9. Names of the major customers:
10.Details of similar assignments handled in the past with the number of
candidates (Pl. Enclose Proof with Contact Details):
11.Details of similar assignments of other examination bodies covering
more than 50,000 candidates each, currently being handled (Pl.
Enclose Proof with Contact Details):
12.Attach copies of audited annual accounts for the past 3 years
13.Number of employees:
14.Number of technical personnel:
15.Persons authorized by the company to execute documents on its
behalf, with ICAI
16.PAN Number (Pl. Enclose Proof):
17.Service Tax Number (Pl. Enclose Proof, if Applicable):
18.Detail of any such portal to access the quality. Username and
password to be provided of such portal to access the quality.
19.CMMI Certification:
Declaration: We hereby declare that the above information furnished
is true to the best of our knowledge and information and if it is
discovered at a later date that any or all of the above information is
incorrect, we shall be disqualified and that if the assignment is already
awarded, ICAI shall be within its rights to cancel the contract
forthwith without assigning any reasons whatsoever.
Place
Date: Signature
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ANNEXURE-C
FINANCIAL BID
(On the Letterhead of the Bidder)
The Bidder is required to submit the financial bid in the following format.
The rates quoted by the bidder shall be inclusive of all taxes and levies.
Srl Details Rates Including all
Taxes (Rs.)
1. One Time Registration charges( as rate per
candidate)
2. Processing Charges (as rate per successful
application received)
Note: Exam cycle would include the CPT, Intermediate and Final exams
held in May/June or Nov/December as the case may be.
Name:
Date:
Sign:
Address with Phone No and E Mail ID:
Stamp:
P.S. Please note that ICAI is exempt from payment of service tax
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