ITAO wants state government to ban EMD clause in tenders

The IT Association of Orissa (ITAO) is working with the state government to have a ratification criteria to simplify the tendering processes. Step one is to ban the Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) clause. Such a step will ensure that non-qualifying partners do not quote for the tender and not lose their funds by paying the
EMD.

Step two is to decide the qualifications of suppliers and categorizing them separately. Explained Sanjeev Nayak, Executive Council member of ITAO, "We want the government to distinguish the suppliers, based on certain parameters, into different classes. For instance, for high-value tenders, the supplier should furnish three years balance sheet and should have an audited turnover of over Rs 5
crore." 

One reason why ITAO is trying to highlight the fine print in the tender process is because payment cycles in government buying is very long. And smaller partners can't afford to block their funds due to this.

Yet another step that ITAO is working on is to bring a regulated code of conduct for the tender business. 90% of the payment should be made on delivery and the remainder after the deployment. Also, the terms of delivery should be made clear. "Often, government agencies refuse to acknowledge to pay when delivery is made and pay only after the entire system is networked and running. This could take eight to 10 months," rued Sanjeev. ITAO has already made a proposal on this subject to Ashok Tripathi, Chief Executive, Orissa Computer Application Center, which is a nodal agency for all computerization in the state. 

In a bid to boost business, ITAO has planned its annual exhibition to be held in February to coincide with the National eGovernance Conference which is being organized by the state government. The latter event will attract companies from all over the country and ITAO hopes that this will give its members a wider exposure and chance to sign partner alliances. 

The conference will be held from the 3rd to 5th February, 2005, while ITAO's B2C event will be from 4th to 7th February, 2005. Traditionally, the conference was held in Bangalore and this is the first time Bhubaneshwar will host it. Partners are excited about this development. Said Prasanta Mohapatra of Kartavya Consultants, "The conference will be a B2B event, where we will be able to showcase our products and solutions to companies from outside the state. We also expect to have lucrative alliances with several vendors under a single roof." Added Debasis Patra, Proprietor, PC World, "Partners can make bulk purchases at this event, which otherwise can't be done."

VINITA BHATIA

MUMBAI