Public universities in eGP portal : 2021-11-15

Bangladesh has fifty public universities according to University Grants Commission of Bangladesh (UGC) website. As of today 15th November, 2021, less than twenty of them have at least one live tender on eGP platform. This means more than 50% public universities are not using eGP portal. Thirty nine universities are registered including one private university (North South University). So twelve public universities are not registered on eGP system at all. All the public universities should use eGP for effective management of their procurement. After all they are using public fund for their procurement expenditure.

Public Procurement Rules 2008

 Public sector procurement of Bangladesh is regulated by Public Procurement Act 2006 (PPA 2006) which was approved in the year 2006. As the rule is abridged, detail rules are required to enforce it. Hence later on the Public Procurement Rules 2008 was enacted in the year 2008 (PPR 2008). Both the PPA 2006 and PPR 2008 was enacted from the day of 31st January 2008. PPA 2006 has nine Chapters, seventy three Sections and many sub-sections, while PPR 2008 has nine chapters, one hundred thirty Rules,  many sub-rules and fourteen schedules. 

The Chapters of PPA and PPR are divided as shown below:

• Chapter 1: Preliminary
• Chapter 2: Preparation of Tender or Proposal, Committee
• Chapter 3: Principles of Public Procurement
• Chapter 4: Methods of Procurement for G & RS, W, PS
• Chapter 5: Processing of Procurement
• Chapter 6: Procurement of Intellect. & Profess. Services
• Chapter 7: Professional Misconduct
• Chapter 8: e-GP
• Chapter 9: Miscellaneous

 The fourteen schedules of PPR 2008 deals with following topics:

SCHEDULE I : Times and Values
SCHEDULE II :

Guidance Notes on Preparation of Procurement Plans
A. Total Procurement Plan for Development Project / Programme
B. Annual Procurement Plan for Development & Revenue Budgets
C. Annual Procurement Plan
D. Annual Procurement Plan
E. Annual Procurement Plan

SCHEDULE III :

A. Procurement Processing and Approval Procedure for Goods or Works
B. Procurement Processing and Approval Procedure for Services (Firms)
C. Procurement Processing and Approval Procedure for Services (Individuals)
D. Steps for Opening Tenders

SCHEDULE IV:

A. Records of Procurement to be Maintained by a Procuring Entity
B. Records and Documents to be maintained

SCHEDULE V:

A. General Considerations for the Employment of Consultants
B. General Considerations for Employment of Bangladeshi Nationals as Individual Consultants in Aided Projects
C. Terms and Conditions of Employment of Government Servants and Employees of Statutory Bodies, Local Authorities, Etc.
D. Consultant Conflicts of Interest: Range of Possible Cases

SCHEDULE VI:

A. Tender Submission Form
B. Tender Submission Form
C. Financial Proposal Submission Form
D. Technical Proposal Submission Form

SCHEDULE VII:
FORMATS FOR INVITATIONS

A. Invitation for Enlistment
B. Invitation for Pre-Qualification
C. Invitation for Pre-Qualification
D. Invitation for Tenders
E. Invitation for Tenders

SCHEDULE VIII: A. Request for Expressions of Interest (Firm)
SCHEDULE IX: Format for Reporting Contract Award
SCHEDULE X:  Notification of Award (NOA)
SCHEDULE XI : FLOW CHART of Procurement Processing and Approval Timetable (Rule 36)
SCHEDULE XII: The Code of Ethics for Public Procurement
SCHEDULE XII: Standard Tender Documents, Request for Proposals and Evaluation Reports

PPA 2006 and PPR 2008 have been amended for several times. All the government organizations are bound to follow Public Procurement Rules 2008 for processing procurement. Any entity doing a procurement using public fund must follow PPA & PPR. CPTU is the legal body to provide explanations and clarifications on PPA & PPR.

Government Procurement in Bangladesh

The government organizations of Bangladesh follow the Public Procurement Act 2006 and Public Procurement Rules 2008 for processing and managing their procurement packages. Most of the procurement are done under the projects approved by the Planning Commission. Some small procurement are done using annual operating cost which are not included in any project. 

The tenders are processed either manually or using the electronic procurement system know as eGP Portal. The eGP portal has been developed and maintained by the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU). The website address is www.eprocure.gov.bd. Most of the tenders for Goods and Works procurement are now processed using this eGP portal. But the process of Service procurement is still manual. eGP system doesn't support processing Service procurement. International tenders are also processed manually.

There are many different methods of procurement. For the following procurement methods are used frequently:

• Limited Tendering Method (LTM)
• Open Tendering Method (OTM)
• One stage Two Envelopes Tendering Method (OSTETM)
• Request for Quotation (RFQ)
• Direct Contracting
• Direct Cash Purchase
• Framework Contract

Open Tendering Method (OTM) is the most preferable method for government procurement since this method ensure competition and equal opportunities for all.

All the high value procurement notices are published on CPTU owned websites: www.eprocure.gov.bd or www.cptu.gov.bd. The notices of small value procurement are published on the website of respective Procuring Entity. 

A Tender Opening Committee (TOC) opens the tender and a Tender Evaluation Committee (TEC) evaluates the received tenders. Appropriate Approving Authority approves a purchase proposal recommended by the TEC. Approving Authority is determined according to the Delegation of Financial Powers (DoFP) issued by the Finance Division.