Frequently Asked Questions By Vendors -South Central Railway

Frequently Asked Questions By Vendors -South Central Railway

Q1.How fast can I get registration with South Central Railway?

A.If all the required information with attested copies of documents is provided, it takes one or two months to communicate the decision of Railways to enroll as approved supplier.On remittance of bulletin subscription, it takes 2 weeks for formal registration of the firm.

2.What are the documents required to be submitted along with application form for registration?

A.The following documents are to be submitted:

1.Letter of NSIC registration preferably forwarded by SSI / NSIC authorities.

2Deed of registration under Factory Act & Partnership Act.

3.  Letter of registration with other Railways / Railway production units.

4.Factory details with proof of ownership.

5.Sales Tax registrations with assessment order passed by commercial taxation

officer.

6.Balance sheet, last annual reports certified by your C.A.

7.Performance statement of POs executed on other Railways / Govt. deptts.

8.ISO 9001 certificate.

9.Bankers financial certificate in original.

Q3.Whether SSI units not registered with NSIC are entitled for automatic registration with Railways under single point?

A.No. SSI units desirous of registration with Railways must get themselves registered with

NSIC first, else detailed / elaborate procedure of registration is followed.

Q4.Whether firms registered with lower monetary limit can participate in tenders of higher value?

A.Yes.If found acceptable, the firm is required to pay Security Deposit @ 5% of the difference in value of the contract and the monetary limit upto which the firm is registered.

Q5.Whether offers of firms not registered with Railways for specific trade group will be considered for acceptance against B.T?

A.Offers of firms not registered for the specific trade group of items notified in the bulletin tender enquiries are considered unsolicited and rejected as a general rule.

Q6.Is there any exception to the above rule?

A.Unsolicited offers are not accepted as a rule.� However, in exceptional cases where there is not enough competition from the registered suppliers, the rates quoted by registered firms are unreasonably high, the material is urgently required and where re-tendering may not help Railways, the suitable unsolicited offer may be accepted with required security deposit upon confirmation of capacity cum capability of the firm.

 Q7.Whether request of firms registered with NSIC but not for specific items will be

 �Considered for inclusion / registration of other trade groups?

A.Normally registration with Railways is limited only for the group of items for which they are registered with NSIC.� However, request of firms seeking registration for other group of items will also be considered on inclusion of that item in NSIC registration list.

Q8.What is the grace period for consideration of offers after expiry of registration?

A.There is no grace period as such.� Offers of firms whose registration is not valid as on the date of tender opening and thereafter against bulletin enquiries are not considered.

 Q9.Which date is a criterion for consideration of offers?

Registration valid on date of tender opening ( or )

Registration valid on date of acceptance of offer.

Valid registration as on the date of tender opening is the criteria. However, firms who are delisted, downgraded, banned or blacklisted are taken into account and offers from them are ignored.

Q10.What is the price preference to NSIC registered firms over large and medium scale firms?

A.It is 15% on merits over the quotation of large-scale units for the items they are registered

for.

Q11.Whether pre-despatch inspection by RITES/RDSO or any other agency mandatory?

A.Mandatory if it is one of the tender conditions.Safety & critical items are invariably pre-

inspected by RDSO / RITES.

Q12.Whether pre-inspection certificate issued by Railway nominated agency i.e., RDSO/RITES /DQA is final so far as inspection is concerned?

A. No. Consignee inspection is final.Consignee has the right of rejection even if supplies are

pre-inspected by these agencies.

Q13.Whether firms registered with S.C.Railway can participate in purchases by divisions / stores depot officers?

A.Yes.

Q14.Whether firms registered with NSIC are entitled for waiver of EMD against all tenders?

No. Not for all tenders.They are entitled for waiver of EMD only against those items for which they are registered with NSIC.

Q15.When do we get back our EMD?

A.The EMD paid in the form of DD will be returned to all un-successful participants immediately on finalization of the tender.For other modes it may take 15 days after tender finalization.

Q16.When do we get back our SD (security deposit)?

A.On successful execution of the contract, the SD will be refunded.A no claim / loss

certificate should be obtained from consignee for claiming SD.

Q17.What are Railways payment terms?

A.Railway prefers 100% payment on receipt and acceptance of material by consignee.� There is no exception for orders value below Rs.5 Lakhs.Even against orders value above Rs. 5 Lakhs, the normal mode of payment is 100 % against receipt and acceptance.However, in exceptional cases where the firm is of good repute and a regular supplier to Railways, 95% payment will be allowed on proof of delivery with pre-inspection by a nominated agency.In such cases also the advance payment is against proof of delivery but not proof of despatch.

Q18.What is the procedure to claim a bill for supplies made?

A.��� The claim has to be submitted to the respective accounts officer duly enclosing the pink

copy of receipt note granted by the depot officer in case of stocked items.In case of non-stock items, the claim has to be made in the prescribed bill format duly got certified by consignee

 Q19.How long does it take for Railways to pass bills and arranging payment against supplies made?

A.Railway is a good paymaster.The firms' bills will be paid within a week from the date of submission of claim correct in all respects.The status of their bills can also be verified through IVRS of accounts department on BSNL telephone line 040-27788418 (online LEKHA information system).Payments are also arranged through EFT / ECS.

 Q20.What is NEFT?

NEFT stands for National Electronic Funds Transfer, which would avoid undue delays associated with issue and despatch of cheques in normal course.Ultimately, NEFT system would facilitate hassle free and quick transfer of money to the suppliers to reduce the costs and to be more competitive..

 Q21.Is NEFT (National Electronic Fund Transfer) compulsory?

A.Yes. It is mandatory in the interest of suppliers and for speedy payment.

 Q22.Whether bulletin subscription is compulsory?

A.Railways publish the list of items required by them every week.� This is a continuous process.� It is in the interest of both buyer and seller that the subscription is made compulsory.� Bulletin carries other vital information like details of orders placed etc., and there is scope for the firms to advertise their products also. The bulletin subscription is Rs.1200/- per annum.

Q23.What is the mode of despatch preferred by Railways?

A.Railways accepted mode of despatch is by ROAD.In exceptional cases, Railway may agree for dispatch by Rail.� However, no advance payment can be made on proof of despatch.

Q24.What is the risk in the stores?

A.The general rule is "Risk follows Title".� As per the IRS terms and conditions S1502, till the title of ownership passes to buyer, the goods remain at seller's risk.The suppliers responsibility lies till it is safely delivered to the consignee and accepted, irrespective of the mode of despatch.Therefore, the risk in the stores lies with the supplier.

Q25. What are the criteria followed by the Railways to award contracts?

A.The evaluation criteria are laid down in the instructions to tenderers.For vital and safety items, purchases are made from approved sources only.� You may have to approach the concerned agency to get your product approved.

Q26.What are the consequences of non-supply of material?

Every contract is enforceable in the court of law.Failure of the supplier attracts the following action by the purchaser.

1.Fresh purchase of the material at the risk and cost of the defaulter.

2.Recovery of RP loss or general damages from the defaulter.

3.Advise to NSIC regarding the failure.

4.Banning business with Railways.

5.Advise to other Railway purchase agencies for similar action.

Q27.What are the consequences of rejection of material?

Rejected stores lies with the consignee at the risk of the supplier if it is not removed within the stipulated time (14 / 21 days) as advised in the rejection memo.The consequences of rejection are,

1.The purchaser may resort risk purchase..

2.Rejected material if not lifted in time, ground rent, incidental charges and test charges if any will be recovered.

3.Even if risk purchase is not done, general damages to the extant of 10% will be recovered from the defaulter.

4.Railways may ban business with the firm.

5.Other agencies of purchase of Railways will be advised for similar action.

6.NSIC will be advised for suitable action.

Q28.Will SCR help in registration with RDSO?

A.No.

Source:South Central Railway