O R D E R

FACTS The Appellant vide RTI application sought information, as under:-

1. Please provide the following details in respect of the tenders floated by each branch / unit of BPCL in the past five years (from January 2017 to December 2022) for procurement of De-watering polyelectrolyte:

a. Tender id, value of the tender, quantity sought to be procured in each such tender and details of whether each tender was an open tender or limited tender;

b. Actual quantity purchased in each such tender;

c. Names of the vendors who participated in each such tender and details of which of these participating vendors were MSME vendors;

d. Name of the successful vendor on whom purchase order was placed in each such tender;

e. Name of the product supplied by the successful vendor in each such tender;

f. Price at which material was supplied by the successful vendor in each such tender (with split-up of basic price and tax).

2. Please provide the following details in respect of the tenders floated by each branch / unit of BPCL in the past five years (from January 2017 to December 2022) for procurement of De-oiling polyelectrolyte:

a. Tender id, value of the tender, quantity sought to be procured in each such tender and details of whether each tender was an open tender or limited tender;

b. Actual quantity purchased in each such tender;

c. Names of the vendors who participated in each such tender and details of which of these participating vendors were MSME vendors;

d. Name of the successful vendor on whom purchase order was placed in each such tender;

e. Name of the product supplied by the successful vendor in each such tender;

f. Price at which material was supplied by the successful vendor in each such tender (with split-up of basic price and tax).

3. Please provide the following details for the last five years (from January 2017 to December 2022) in respect of vendor registration for the product dewatering polyelectrolyte:

a. Names of the vendors who applied for registration in each year from 2017 to 2022 and details of which of these applicants were MSME vendors;

b. The steps and process followed by BPCL to assess the application of these vendors;

c. Names of the vendors who were actually granted registration in each year from 2017 to 2022;

d. Copies of any document which serves as evidence of vendor registration for each such registered vendor such as vendor registration certificate.

4. Please provide the following details for the last five years (from January 2017 to December 2022) in respect of vendor registration for the product de-oiling polyelectrolyte:

e. Names of the vendors who applied for registration in each year from 2017 to 2022 and details of which of these applicants were MSME vendors;

f. The steps and process followed by BPCL to assess the application of these vendors;

g. Names of the vendors who were actually granted registration in each year from 2017 to 2022;

h. Copies of any document which serves as evidence of vendor registration for each such registered vendor such as vendor registration certificate.

5. Please refer to Office Memorandum nos. F.6/18/2019-PPD (dated 23.01.2020), F.1/26/2018-PPD (dated 02.04.2019) and F.6/14/2020-PPD (dated 27.08.2020) issued by the Procurement Policy Division, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance of the Government of India. In terms of these Office Memorandums, and especially the amendment to Rule 149 of the General Financial Rules, 2017, all goods and services which are available on the Government e-marketplace (“GEM Portal”) are required to be mandatorily procured through the GEM Portal only. The products “de-watering polyelectrolyte” and “de-oiling polyelectrolyte” are available on the GEM Portal and are being procured by other PSUs through GEM Portal. In light of the same, what is the legal basis for BPCL to continue to float tenders for these products independently and not through the GEM Portal?

6. Is it mandatory for a vendor to be empaneled as a registered vendor with BPCL in order to partic