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of <h1>Technical Bid Disqualified for Missing UDIN on Turnover Certificate Under 2019 Notification Rules</h1> The HC upheld the disqualification of the petitioner's technical bid due to the turnover certificate lacking the mandatory UDIN as required by the ... Disqualification of technical bid - reason specified for non-consideration is the fact that the turnover certificate submitted by the petitioner did not mention the Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) in the certificate - HELD THAT:- It is not in issue that the contract was invited on GeM portal and the conditions stipulated in the bid document had to be scrupulously met. The bid document referred to submission of turnover certificate by the Chartered Accountant. The insistence on part of the authority for only such certificate to be considered of the Chartered Accountant which had Unique Document Identification Number apparently is consistent with the statutory notification issued on 2.8.2019. The Chartered Accountant, who has issued the certificate to the petitioner is clearly bound by the notification dated 2.8.2019. There are no error in the decision of the respondents in not considering the petitioner's technical bid if the certificate was not in accordance with the statutory guidelines issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. It is otherwise the case of the respondents that apart from the petitioner, all others whose technical bid suffered from the same infirmity have been non-suited. The action of the authority, therefore, is found to be consistent and the discarding of petitioner's technical bid cannot be said to be arbitrary. This Court is also informed that GeM portal is an online format to facilitate award of contract, on objective criteria, and the entire process is transparent with minimal human intervention. Petition dismissed. ISSUES: Whether the absence of a Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) on a Chartered Accountant's turnover certificate submitted in a bid process on the GeM portal justifies disqualification of the technical bid.Whether the bid conditions required the turnover certificate to mandatorily contain the UDIN.Whether submission of a fresh certificate containing the UDIN after the technical bid evaluation can cure the defect and allow consideration of the financial bid.Whether the rejection of the bid on the ground of non-compliance with UDIN requirements is arbitrary. RULINGS / HOLDINGS: The absence of the UDIN on the turnover certificate is a valid ground for disqualification of the technical bid as the certificate must comply with statutory guidelines issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.Although the bid document did not explicitly stipulate the requirement of UDIN, the statutory notification dated 2.8.2019 mandates that all certificates issued by Chartered Accountants must contain a UDIN, making it an implicit requirement for compliance.Submission of a fresh certificate with the UDIN after the technical bid evaluation is not permissible and does not entitle the bidder to have the financial bid considered.The rejection of the petitioner's bid was not arbitrary as the authority applied the same standard consistently to all bidders, and the GeM portal process is designed to be transparent and objective with minimal human intervention. RATIONALE: The Court applied the statutory framework established by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India's Gazette notification dated 2.8.2019, issued under the powers of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, which mandates generation of UDIN for all certificates issued by members of the Institute.The Court recognized that compliance with this statutory mandate is necessary for the validity of certificates submitted in government procurement processes conducted via the GeM portal.The Court emphasized the objective and transparent nature of the GeM portal bidding process, which requires strict adherence to bid conditions and statutory requirements to maintain fairness and integrity.No dissenting or differing opinion was noted; the Court upheld the authority's consistent application of the UDIN requirement as lawful and justified.
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