Notice Inviting Request for Proposal
(RFP) from Chartered Accountancy
Firms for conducting Internal Audit
and other related work of NIPER-

Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar

(For the Financial Year 2021-22)

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REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR ENGAGEMENT OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT FIRMS FOR
INTERNAL AUDIT AND OTHER RELATED WORK OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PHARMACEUTICAL
EDUCATION AND RESEARCH-AHMEDABAD, GANDHINAGAR, OPP AIRFORCE HEADQUARTERS,
PALAJ, GANDHINAGAR (FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2021-22)

No: NIPER-A/RFP/ /2021-22/1

NIT Issue Date and Time : 25 June 2021 1800 Hrs. (Friday)
Pre-bid Meeting : 02 July 2021 1500 Hrs. (Friday)

Tender Submission Date and Time : 16 July 2021 1700 Hrs. (Friday)

Tender Opening Date & Time : 19 July 2021 at 1100 Hrs. (Monday)
(Technical Bid)

Tender Opening Date & Time : to be decided later
(Financial Bid)

Estimated cost of Work : Rs 5,40,000 (Annually)(Excl of GST)

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Request for Proposal

National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research-Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar (hereinafter
referred to as the “Institute”) invites sealed request for Proposals from well-established reputed
Chartered Accountancy Firms (Hereinafter called ‘Firm”) having relevant experience for providing
Accounting and Auditing services as per scope mentioned hereinbelow. The period of contract is initially
for one year and further extendable up to three years (with yearly extension in each case) based on
satisfactory completion of contract every year on mutually accepted terms and conditions, subject to
price escalation not exceeding 10% for each such yearly extension.

Part-A General Terms and Conditions

1. All the prospective bidders, before preparing the tender and submitting the same must go through
the contents of entire tender document carefully and note the same for compliance. Any deviation or
non-compliance of the information/instructions, provided in the tender document may result in
treating the tender as non-responsive.

2. Offers in the proposal should be written in English and price should be written in both figures and
words. The offer should be typed or written in pen ink or ball pen. Use of pencil will be ignored. The
relevant supporting documents as mentioned or required should be enclosed along with the offer.

3. Technical & financial proposal envelopes should be individually sealed and then placed in a third
envelope to be sealed and super scribed with RFP number, due date of submission. RFPs received
beyond last date of proposal submission will be rejected. No RFP will be entertained by E-mail /
FAX.

4. The RFP shall be submitted in a sealed envelope bearing the following reference on top left corner:
“No: NIPER-A/RFP/2021-22/1” latest by July 16, 2021 by 5.00 P.M. and addressed to:

The Registrar
Stores and Purchase Section, NIPER-A

Opp Air force Headquarters, Palaj
Gandhinagar – 382455, Gujarat

5. Pre-proposal Meeting is scheduled on 02 July 2021 03.00 P.M. (Friday) at NIPER-A Gandhinagar.
The prospective applicants are requested to attend the pre-proposal meeting on scheduled date
and time.

6. Terms & conditions and any other factor which may affect the contract, shall be open for discussion
for wider competition and competitive prices.

7. At any time prior to the deadline for submission of proposals, the Institute may, for any reason,
whether at its own initiative or in response to a clarification requested by a prospective applicant,
modify the RFP document by amendment.

8. The amendment will be published on Institute website. In order to afford reasonable time to the
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prospective applicant, in which they can take amendment into account in preparing their Proposal,
the Institute may, at its discretion extend the deadline for the submission of proposal.

9. Technical requirement proposal will be opened on July 19, 2021 11.00 A.M. at the Institute in the
presence of the Applicants or their authorized representative, who are present at the scheduled
time.

10. Date and time of opening of financial proposals will be decided after technical proposals have been
evaluated by the Institute. Financial Proposals of only those applicants will be opened, who qualify
the eligibility criteria, on the specified date and time. The date, time & place of opening of the
financial proposals will be intimated in due course of time.

11. The applicants are requested to read the RFP document carefully and ensure compliance with all
the instructions herein. Non-compliance of the instructions contained in this document may
disqualify the applicant from the RFP exercise.

12. The document, duly signed and stamped on each page, shall be returned in original with the
technical proposal as a proof to confirm the acceptance of the entire term & conditions of RFP.

13. Any amendment and / or addition made to the RFP are not permissible after opening of the RFP,
incomplete RFP(s), will be rejected.

14. The Institute reserves the right to reject any or all RFP(s), wholly or partly or close the RFP at any
stage prior to award of contract without assigning any reason whatsoever.

15. RFP should be submitted in two parts, Part – I (Technical Proposal) & Part – II (Financial Proposal).
The cover for Part – I should be super scribed as “RFP for Empanelment of Chartered Accountancy
Firm.

16. The Bidder shall be required to submit Earnest Money of Rs 27000/- and RFP fee of Rs 1180/- in
the form of account payee DD/ Fixed Deposit Receipt/ Bank Guarantee with validity of one year
from any of the nationalized bank in favour of NIPER-A payable at Gandhinagar.

17. No bid shall be accepted without the EMD and Tender fee.

18. Bids would be rejected, if the bidder resorted to either directly or through an agent in corrupt,
fraudulent, collusive or coercive practices in competing for the contract in question.

19. The tenders received after the deadline for submission of tenders prescribed by NIPER-Ahmedabad
will be rejected and such tenders shall be marked as late and not considered for further evaluation.

20. NIPER-Ahmedabad may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for submission of bids by amending
the bid documents in accordance with clause relating to amendment of bidding documents in which
case all rights and obligations of the NIPER-Ahmedabad and bidders previously subject to the
deadline will thereafter be subject to the deadline as extended.
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21. The original and all copies of the bid shall be typed or written in indelible ink and shall be signed by
the bidder or a person or persons duly authorized to bind the bidder to the contract. All pages of the
bid, except for un-amended printed literature, shall be initialed by the person or persons signing the
bid. Further, over-writings on documents, if any should be attested by signatures.

22. The bidders may submit their duly sealed bid by post at the address specified in the notice inviting
tenders not later than the time and date specified therein. In the event of the specified date for the
submission of the bid being declared a holiday for NIPER-Ahmedabad, the bid will be received up
to the appointed time on the next working day.

23. Submission of bid documents should not automatically be construed that the bidder is considered
qualified. NIPER-Ahmedabad authority has the right to reject any bid on technical grounds without
assigning any reason.

24. NIPER-Ahmedabad shall not be responsible for any delay, loss or non-receipt of bid document sent
by post.

25. In the process of evaluation, comparison of bids, NIPER-Ahmedabad reserves the right to reject
any or all bids.

26. All corrigenda will only be notified on the NIPER-Ahmedabad website www.niperahm.ac.in. and
CPPP.

27. The acceptance of the quotation will rest with the Director, NIPER-A, who does not bind to accept
the lowest quotation and reserves the right to herself to reject or accept, partially or all the quotations
received, without assigning any reason. The Director, NIPER-A further reserves the right to
withdraw the tender or part thereof or modify the requirements without assigning any reason and
the right to relax any of the conditions in the best interest of the Institution.

28. Director, NIPER-Ahmedabad shall be the final authority for settlement of any dispute, and his/her
interpretation of any clause/term/condition(s) of this document shall be final and binding, and the
jurisdiction of Court of Law shall be Gandhinagar.

Part-B Eligibility Criteria and Scope of Work

1. Eligibility Criteria: Agencies fulfilling the following requirements shall only be eligible to apply: -

(a) The Firm must be registered with Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and copy of
Registration Certificate must be submitted.

(b) The Firm must be registered with Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)
(c) The Firm should have its registered office in Ahmedabad/Gandhinagar
(d) The Firm must have at least experience of 15 years in Auditing and Accounting. At least two

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latest copies of similar nature of satisfactory work completion certificate must be enclosed
with technical proposal.
(e) Firm with a minimum of 2 partners of which at least 1 partner should be FCA
(f) The Firm must have an average turnover of Rs. 40 Lakh for the last three Financial Years.
Certified financial statements, duly certified by Charted Accountant (CA) for the past three
years, shall be enclosed with the technical proposal in support thereof along with copies of
Income Tax return.
(g) The CA firm or any of its partners/members has not been debarred and / or blacklisted by
any Central Government and / or any State Government Department(s) and the Applicant
should not have any litigation in any of the Court(s). An affidavit to that effect on Non-Judicial
Stamp paper of Rs 10/- duly notarized shall be enclosed with the technical proposal. The
Performa of the affidavit is attached with the RFP as Appendix B.
(h) Preference shall be given to those CA firms, who have been doing the work of “Internal
Audit” and “Preparation of Final Accounts” of Institutes supported by Government Grants on
regular basis.
(i) Firm must ensure that no litigation is in process against it and a certificate to the effect must
form part of the documents.
(j) The Chartered Accountants Firm shall not be eligible to apply if:

 The firm or any of its partners has any pecuniary or other interest in the NIPER such
as faculty, examiner, observer etc.

 Any of the partners of the firm or their relative is / was an employee of NIPER-A
during the current year and immediate past five years i.e., from 1st April, 2016 to till
date.

 The audit firm is having association with foreign audit firms.
(k) Declaration: The Chartered Accountant Firm while expressing their interest shall be required

to submit a declaration that they do not suffer from any of the above disqualifications and
the details furnished in this regard are true and correct. Any incorrect information furnished
will lead to rejection of the application.

2. Scope of Work:
1. Pre-audit of
(a) All type of payments, receipts, debit notes and Journal vouchers
(b) Bank Guarantees and other documents of security
(c) Salary payments including TDS deduction and compliance of statutory laws
(d) Records regarding leave, attendance, LTC, transfer from one place to other, No liability
certificate, salary increments, sanction of loans, advances and the recoveries thereof etc.

2. Auditing of Utilization certificate prepared for various grants as and when required by the
Funding Agencies/ Other Authorities.

3. Pre-audit of Purchase orders and contracts (including amendments) for Budget
estimates/project estimates and administrative approval/Expenditure sanction. The terms of
purchase contract are complied with by the party unless waiver is granted by competent
authority and Store items/Commodities/Assets are declared as unusable/scrap only as per
rules and are sold as per the procedures prescribed.

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4. Verify whether provisions of various statutes such as Bombay Public Trust Act, PF Act,
Income-Tax, GST Law, Excise and Customs laws, Professional tax, Service Tax law, FEMA,
FCRA and other applicable laws and rules are complied with including timely payment of
statutory dues and filing of returns. While verifying compliance of various laws it will also be
seen those concessions, if any, available are fully availed.

5. a) Verify that Fixed Assets appearing in NIPER books are registered in the name of NIPER
and proper Asset records are maintained. Assets of NIPER including cash, stores, Guest
house items, fixed assets, library books, are adequately and continuously insured.

b) Physically verify the above assets at least once in a year. Acknowledgement of material /
asset lying with third parties or given on loan shall be verified and also to verify the
certificate of existence of the assets and free of charge lying with these parties.

6. Check whether timely instructions for renewal or encashment of investments such as
FDRs/Bonds are given. Physical verification of investment made by NIPER will be carried out
at least once in a year.

7. Periodical in depth scrutiny of trial Balance, Ledger etc. old balances in various account shall
be reviewed in detail. Constant review of internal control system and working methods and
provide from time-to-time suggestions for improvement to the management.

8. The following events/occurrences shall be reported specifically:
 Losses due to theft, negligence, fraud, breach of trust etc
 Large idle balances with bankers in current account.
 Bank guarantees expired before settlement/not honored on presentation.

9. Any Other work to complement the above scope of work or as directed by the Director, Registrar
or FAO of the Institute.

Part-C Document preparation and submission

1. Technical Proposal: Technical proposal should contain information regarding constitutional
documents (Memorandum and Articles of Association or Registration of Firm etc), Business
Turnover, experience in the sector, Compliance to Laws and other relevant documents of the
company / firm to enable judging the suitability of the applicant. Self-attested copies of all
supporting document(s) should be enclosed with technical proposal in the prescribed format
i.e. Appendix A which should inter alia contain the documents as per succeeding paras.

2. Financial Proposal:

(a) The financial proposal (Exclusive of applicable taxes) will be in the format enclosed with
RFP as Appendix D in separate sealed cover. Failure to provide price proposal in a sealed
separate cover will result in invalidation of the offer.

(b) The Proposal should be clearly filled or typed and signed in ink legibly giving full address
of the Applicant. Applicant should quote the price in figures as well as in words the amount
quoted by him. Alteration if any, unless legibly attested by the Applicant with his full

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signature, shall invalidate the RFP. The RFP should be duly signed by the authorized
persons. In case there is any difference in the amount between figures and words, the
amount indicated in words will be treated as the valid offer.

3. RFP Evaluation: Institute will evaluate all the proposals to determine whether these are
complete in all respects as specified in the RFP documents. Evaluation of the proposals shall
be done in two stages as:

(a) Stage – I (Technical Evaluation):

i. Institute shall evaluate technical proposals to determine, whether these qualify the

essential eligibility criteria, whether any computational errors have been made, whether

all the documents have been properly signed & stamped, whether all the documents as

mentioned / or required to submitted with technical proposal are submitted and whether

proposals are completed and generally in order.

ii. After evaluation of technical proposals, a list of the qualifying Applicant(s) shall
be made. Short-listed Applicant(s) shall be informed of the date, time and place of
financial proposals opening and they may depute their representative/s to attend the
same on the scheduled date & time.

(b) Stage – II (Financial Evaluation): The financial proposals shall be evaluated on the
basis of Service Charges and any other charges quoted by Applicant(s).

i. Award of Contract: After due evaluation of the financial proposals, the Institute will
award the contract on LCS to the lowest bidder/applicant (hereinafter referred to as
the “Service Provider”).

ii. Commencement of Contract: The Service Provider shall commence the work on
receipt of letter of intent (LOI) / work order which shall be accepted by the Service
Provider within not more than 7 days from the date of receipt of letter of intent (LOI)
/ work order.

iii. Performance Security

a) The Service Provider shall be required to furnish a Performance Security on or
before contract commencement for an amount of Rs 1, 00, 000/- (Rupees of One
Lakh only) in the form of irrevocable bank guarantee issued by any nationalized bank
in prescribed format or FDR.

b) The performance security, as furnished by the Applicant, shall remain valid for a
period of sixty days beyond the date of completion of all contractual obligations of
the Service Provider under the agreement to be executed by and between the
Institute and the Service Provider.

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c) In case the period of contract is extended further by the Institute in consultation with
the Service Provider, the validity of performance security shall also be extended by
the Service Provider accordingly, so that such performance security shall remain
valid for a period of sixty days after the expiry of the Service Provider obligations for
the extended period.

d) Failure of Service Provider to comply with the requirements of above clauses shall
constitute sufficient grounds for annulment of contract and forfeiture of earnest
money / performance security.

iii. Termination of Contract: The Institute reserves the absolute right to terminate contract
forthwith, if found that contract continuation is not in public interest such as:-

a) If the Service Provider fails to provide the services as envisaged herein
within the period(s) specified in the contract or any extension thereof as
may be granted by Institute. If the Service Provider fails to perform any of
the obligation(s) under the contract.

b) If at any later date, it is found that the documents and certificates submitted
by the Service Provider have been incorrectly furnished / represented, in
any manner, are forged or have been manipulated, the work order issued
to the Service Provider shall be cancelled and performance security issued
to the Institute shall be forfeited without any claim whatsoever on Institute
and the Service Provider shall be liable for action as appropriate under the
extant laws.

c) The Service Provider is not eligible for any compensation or claim in the
event of such cancellation alive.

4. The Applicant shall submit one copy of RFP document and addenda thereto, if any, with each
page of this document signed and stamped to as a proof to confirm the acceptance of RFP
term & conditions by Applicant.

5. The proposal of any Applicant who has not complied with one or more of the conditions of
eligibility criteria and/or fail to submit the required documents as mentioned/ or required in RFP
document are liable to be summarily rejected.

6. The Institute reserves the right to reject any or all RFPs, wholly or partly or close RFP at any
stage prior to the award of contract without assigning any reason whatsoever.

7. Preparation Cost: The Applicant shall solely bear all costs associated with the preparation and
submission of the proposals, including the Office visit etc. The Institute shall in no case be
responsible or liable for such costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the RFP process.
In no case such costs shall be reimbursed by the Institute.

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8. Local Conditions:

(a) It shall be the responsibility of each Applicant to fully inform / acquaint / familiarize himself
with local conditions and factors, which may have any effect on the execution of services
to be rendered under the contract. All Applicant(s) intending to proposal shall visit and make
themselves thoroughly acquainted with the local site conditions.

(b) The Institute shall presume that the Applicant has understood and agreed that all the
relevant factors have been kept in view while submitting the proposal. No financial
adjustment arising thereof shall be permitted by Institute, on the basis of any non-clarity of
information about local conditions being pleaded by the Applicant. Further, no claim for
financial adjustment being made by the contract awarded on this RFP document will be
entertained by the Institute.

Part-D Service providers obligation and liabilities

1. Quantum of work and Deployment of Resources
The Chartered Accountant Firm will depute full time dedicated personnel(s) at the Institute,
at their own cost, as may be required depending upon the volume of work involved. The CA
Firm employee shall be a qualified Chartered Accountant, who shall supervise their work on
day-to-day basis. Other Members of the team, if any employed, must be at least Post
Graduate in Commerce. The FCA must visit the Institute for monthly discussion on progress
and performance of the work.
The Service Provider shall comply by all laws, rules and regulations framed there under or
any other statutory obligations which are in force from time to time. The Service Provider
shall indemnify the Institute from any claims in this regard.
The Responsibility of correctness and accuracy of accounting records will lie with the
Service Provider.

2. A reasonable Penalty may be imposed on the Service provider by the Institute, as decided
by it, if it is found that the Service Provider failed to perform its obligations in any manner.
Such penalty may be deducted from the payment to be made to the Service Provider after
giving a written notice.

3. The certificate regarding the accuracy of accounts and correctness of transactions being
maintained at the Institute should be given on monthly basis by the firm.

4. Service Provider will maintain high standards of integrity and professional ethics and
morality while handling the work of the Institute and dealing with the Institute and its
officials. If it is found that this condition of confidentiality is compromised by the
Service Provider then the Institute will be at liberty to take further steps (e.g.
requesting ICAI for cancellation of license of the Firm) against the Service Provider.

5. NIPER-A Gandhinagar is an institute of national importance and hence, the
accounting records and information related to the Institute shall be handled by the
Service Provider in a confidential manner and must not be shared with any outsider.
No record of the Institute shall be taken outside of the Institute in any case.

6. Notwithstanding anything contained herein above, the Institute reserves the right to

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discontinue the services of the service provider in the event their services are evaluated as
unsatisfactory at any time during the period.

7. Institute Obligations:
Institute shall provide the necessary infrastructure facility to the Service Provider as can be
reasonably provided by the Institute.

8. Other Important Terms:
a. Any losses sustained by Institute due to negligence of Service Provider`s services in
the form of any loss / damage of property (including those attributable to individual
employees/ manpower engaged by the service provider) will be recoverable from the
Service Provider, as the money value shall be estimated by the Institute. The decision
of the Institute in this regard will be final and binding on the Service Provider.
b. The Service Provider shall not be allowed to transfer, assign, pledge or sub-contract
its rights and liabilities under this contract to any other agency.
c. Any action on part of Applicant to influence any Officer of the Institute or canvassing
in any form shall make the RFP liable for rejection.
d. The Service Provider shall take adequate care in engaging qualified and suitable
manpower, including appropriate verification of their character and antecedent. If in
the opinion of the Institute authorities, the performance of any of manpower deployed
is satisfactory or he / she is not amenable to discipline or their behavior is not
conducive to retain them for the work, he / she should be replaced immediately on
such request.
e. Manpower deployed by the Service Provider shall be employee of the Service
Provider and Service Provider will be solely responsible for any claim whatsoever
arise against any service covered under the contract.
f. The Institute shall not be responsible or liable under any laws / or rules or in any case
that is in force or that may come in force from time to time in respect of the claim
raised by manpower deputed by the Service Provider.
g. It will be the prime responsibility of the Service Provider to provide a suitable
substitute to the Institute, if any manpower is absent from duties.
h. The payments of services by the Institute will be affected on quarterly basis in
conformity with the other terms and conditions of the RFP.

9. Arbitration:
a. In case of any dispute or difference arising out of or in connection with the RFP
conditions / job order and Contract, the Institute and the Service Provider will address
the dispute / difference for a mutual resolution and failing which, the matter shall be
referred for arbitration to a sole Arbitrator to be appointed by the Institute.

b. The Arbitration shall be held in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration and
Conciliation Act, 1996 and the venue of arbitration shall be at Gandhinagar. The
decision of the Arbitrator shall be final and binding on both the parties.

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10. Jurisdiction: The court(s) at Gandhinagar alone will have the jurisdiction to try any matter,
dispute or reference between parties arising out of this RFP / contract. It is specifically agreed
that no court outside and other than Gandhinagar court shall have jurisdiction in the matter.

11. Clarification: The prospective Applicant requiring any clarification regarding the RFP
document is requested to contact Purchase section of the Institute.

12. Minor variations in the terms and conditions of the contract as specified can be adopted with
the concurrence of both the parties wherever required to fulfill the objectives of the contract.

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