PANJIM: Social activists, Swapnesh Sherlekar and Pravinsingh Shedgaonkar, have written to the Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL) and Director of Transport, demanding scrapping of the tender for body building of 37 buses, awarded to two Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), for allegedly not having Type Approval Certificate, a mandatory requirement for registration of vehicles and for overall worthiness for ensuring safety of the passengers.
In September last year, the KTCL invited tender for as many as 50 bus body building i.e. 13 buses of 45-seater luxury, 24 buses of 54-seater semi-luxury and 13 buses A/c sleeper coaches.
Four companies namely Automobile Corporation of Goa Ltd (ACGL), Honda; Ultratech Automotive Pvt Ltd, Verna; Aero coach, Bethora and Shree Damodar Coach Crafts Pvt Ltd, Bicholim submitted their bids.
After opening of technical and financial bids in November last year, the ACGL was the lowest bidder in both types of seater buses (semi-luxury and luxury) while, Shree Damodar Coach Crafts was the lowest for the fabrication and mounting of sleeper coaches.
But suddenly the KTCL came up with an Official Gazette issued by the Union Ministry of MSME.
The notification states that if any MSME bidder is within the 15 per centprice of lowest bidder then the respective MSME should be given the
purchase order for at least 25 per cent of tendered number of buses, subject to matching to price of the lowest bidder.
In such a situation, all three MSMEs will be allocated fabrication and mounting of all 37 seater buses, besides one of the MSMEs ie Damodar Coach Crafts, which has already bagging the bus body building of sleeper coaches by virtue of being the lowest bidder.
According to the two activists, it appears that the KTCL is contradicting its criteria laid down in the tender document vis-à-vis award of contract to the lowest bidder.
In the first tender floated in June 2023, the KTCL had mentioned the criteria for those body builders submitting their bids, wherein they should possess a Type Approval Certificate for the products, which had been tendered for.
“But the same tender was withdrawn and in the refloated tender in September, this safety criterion was omitted, which compromised the safety of passengers,” the activists said.
It may be noted that to obtain Type Approval Certificate, the product of the bus body builder has to undergo stringent tests on the prototype bus besides complying to design parameters laid down as per Bus Body Code regulations, which are in force.
Type Approval Certificate is mandatory for registration of any bus asmandated in Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 under Form 22 A Part 2 (Sr No 5) issued by the bus body builder.
“The KTCL should be refrained from issuing the work order and to refloat the tender after making the Type Approval Certificate mandatory. The KTCL has compromised with the quality standards of public transport vehicles by removing the Type Approval Certificate, a mandatory requirement for registration of vehicles and for overall worthiness for ensuring safety of the passengers,” the duo stated in their letter.
They have also demanded to find out exactly on whose instructions the mandatory and critical requirement of Type Approval Certificate was removed from tender specifications and for which particular supplier’s benefits.
Purchase order for buses not issued: KTCL
PANJIM: Social activists, Swapnesh Sherlekar and Pravinsingh Shedgaonkar, have written to the Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL) and Director of Transport, demanding scrapping of the tender for body building of 37 buses, awarded to two Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), for allegedly not having Type Approval Certificate, a mandatory requirement for registration of vehicles and for overall worthiness for ensuring safety of the passengers.
In September last year, the KTCL invited tender for as many as 50 bus body building i.e. 13 buses of 45-seater luxury, 24 buses of 54-seater semi-luxury and 13 buses A/c sleeper coaches.
Four companies namely Automobile Corporation of Goa Ltd (ACGL), Honda; Ultratech Automotive Pvt Ltd, Verna; Aero coach, Bethora and Shree Damodar Coach Crafts Pvt Ltd, Bicholim submitted their bids.
After opening of technical and financial bids in November last year, the ACGL was the lowest bidder in both types of seater buses (semi-luxury and luxury) while, Shree Damodar Coach Crafts was the lowest for the fabrication and mounting of sleeper coaches.
But suddenly the KTCL came up with an Official Gazette issued by the Union Ministry of MSME.
The notification states that if any MSME bidder is within the 15 per centprice of lowest bidder then the respective MSME should be given the
purchase order for at least 25 per cent of tendered number of buses, subject to matching to price of the lowest bidder.
In such a situation, all three MSMEs will be allocated fabrication and mounting of all 37 seater buses, besides one of the MSMEs ie Damodar Coach Crafts, which has already bagging the bus body building of sleeper coaches by virtue of being the lowest bidder.
According to the two activists, it appears that the KTCL is contradicting its criteria laid down in the tender document vis-à-vis award of contract to the lowest bidder.
In the first tender floated in June 2023, the KTCL had mentioned the criteria for those body builders submitting their bids, wherein they should possess a Type Approval Certificate for the products, which had been tendered for.
“But the same tender was withdrawn and in the refloated tender in September, this safety criterion was omitted, which compromised the safety of passengers,” the activists said.
It may be noted that to obtain Type Approval Certificate, the product of the bus body builder has to undergo stringent tests on the prototype bus besides complying to design parameters laid down as per Bus Body Code regulations, which are in force.
Type Approval Certificate is mandatory for registration of any bus asmandated in Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 under Form 22 A Part 2 (Sr No 5) issued by the bus body builder.
“The KTCL should be refrained from issuing the work order and to refloat the tender after making the Type Approval Certificate mandatory. The KTCL has compromised with the quality standards of public transport vehicles by removing the Type Approval Certificate, a mandatory requirement for registration of vehicles and for overall worthiness for ensuring safety of the passengers,” the duo stated in their letter.
They have also demanded to find out exactly on whose instructions the mandatory and critical requirement of Type Approval Certificate was removed from tender specifications and for which particular supplier’s benefits.