Submitting on CPPP or a state NIC portal: freeze the bid, watch the server clock

Before the night

Most bids that fail on the last evening fail for something that could only have been fixed a fortnight earlier. The Central Public Procurement Portal and every state instance built on the same NIC software share one submission procedure, so the preparation is the same wherever the tender was published.

Three things have to exist before a first submission, and none of them is instant.

The signing certificate. NIC's own guideline is explicit: “Bidders are also advised to procure and keep ready well in advance valid Digital Signature Certificate (Signing) of Class III issued by CA under CCA India.”National Informatics Centre (NIC), Central Public Procurement PortalA Class 3 signing certificate is issued after verification of the holder, and the private key lives on a hardware token that has to be in the machine you submit from.

Enrolment, and the certificate mapped to it. Bidder enrolment is a one-time online registration, after which the token is associated with the account. The portal publishes a manual for it in its Bidders Manual Kit, alongside manuals for cover-wise bid submission, resubmission, withdrawal, clarifications, troubleshooting and preparing the BoQ.

A rehearsal. Log in once on the machine and the browser you intend to use, with the token in it, before the tender you care about. The schedule itself is free to download and read from the portal in the meantime.

What each portal wants in a bidder's file, rather than in the portal, is on before you can bid.

The clock is the server's

The deadline is not the clock on your wall or the one in the corner of your screen. CPPP's help for contractors tells bidders to submit “well before the bid submission end date and time (as per Server System Clock)”, and states the reference: “Indian Standard Time (IST) which is GMT+5:30”.

That single fact settles several arguments before they start. A laptop running a few minutes fast will show a deadline you have already missed, and one running slow will show time you do not have. The portal's own displayed server time is the only one that counts, and it is on the screen while you work.

Nothing about the deadline is discretionary once it passes. The system stops accepting the bid; there is no officer at the other end with the power to reopen it.

What you upload, and what will not be handled

NIC's guideline states the formats: “Generally, the permitted file format in the portal are pdf / xls / rar/ dwf/ jpg formats.” A file in another format is a file the portal may refuse at the moment you have least time to convert it.

CPPP is equally plain about paper: “Offline documents will not be handled through this system.” Where a tender does ask for an original (a bank guarantee, for instance), the document is scanned into the bid and the original is produced separately, on the tender's own terms, not in place of the upload.

Two practical habits follow. Keep the scanned set assembled and named before the last day, because the upload is where slow connections do their damage. And prepare the BoQ in the sheet the tender issues, in the form the portal's manuals describe, rather than in a rebuilt copy of it.

Money first

This is general information; confirm with the tender document and your adviser.

The tender fee and the earnest money are paid through the portal, and they are paid early. NIC's guideline: “Bidders are advised to complete the online payment (if applicable) for Tender Fee, EMD and other fees well in advance at least one day in advance prior to the bid submission due date/time.”National Informatics Centre (NIC), Central Public Procurement Portal

The reason is in the next line of the same document: “Only upon successful receipt of online payment, bidder can able to freeze / finally submit their bid to the procuring entity and get bid acknowledgment regarding successful bid submission.”National Informatics Centre (NIC), Central Public Procurement PortalAn unpaid or unconfirmed payment is not a late fee; it is a bid that cannot be completed at all.

Where a bidder claims an exemption instead of paying, the entry is made once and confirmed, and the guideline warns that it cannot be changed afterwards. What the earnest money is and who is exempt from it is on EMD exemptions and the bid-securing declaration; the map of every sum a bid ties up is money in a bid.

Freeze, resubmit, and the one thing you cannot undo

Uploading is not submitting. CPPP states the final step and its consequence in one sentence: “the bidder has to Click on the Freeze Bid Button, to ensure that he/she completes the Bid Submission Process. Bids Which are not Frozen are considered as Incomplete/Invalid bids.”National Informatics Centre (NIC), Central Public Procurement PortalA frozen bid produces an acknowledgment, and that acknowledgment is the only evidence a bid was submitted.

Before the deadline, the bid is not locked. NIC's brochure states the position for its whole family of portals: “Bidders can resubmit the bid any number of times. Bidder can also withdraw the bid”. So a corrected price sheet, a better-scanned certificate or a missed annexure can be fixed by resubmitting, as long as the new submission is frozen before the deadline like the first.

Withdrawal is the exception, and it is final: “If a bidder withdraws their already submitted bid against a tender in the portal, then the bidder will not be allowed to participate in the same tender once again.”National Informatics Centre (NIC), Central Public Procurement PortalWithdrawal is not the way to correct a bid. Resubmission is.

One more thing empties an evening. The guideline's para 3.14 says that “after logging into the portal, if the user is not doing anything in the portal i.e idle for more than 20 minutes continuously then the system will automatically logout the user and they will have to login again to carry out any activity in the portal.” Long gaps while a colleague fetches a certificate are exactly how an unfrozen bid stays unfrozen.

Not every state runs NIC's software

The procedure above is the NIC family: CPPP and the state instances built on the same product, which is why they look and behave alike. Several states run something else, and the differences show up at submission.

• Gujarat. The state's own e-procurement page states that its system “allows the supplier/contractor to modify his bid even after the bid is submitted online. However, the bid modification facility is available to the supplier/contractor only till the tender bid submission closing time specified by the department.”
• Andhra Pradesh. The contractors' FAQ describes earnest money instruments handled differently: “BG/DD taken for EMD are scanned and should be attached to the technical bid during submission. The originals can be handed over to the department during the technical bid opening.” It also records that “presently the registration fee is waived off. However it is for a limited period only.”
• Karnataka. The state's platform is built on workflows aligned with the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act and its Rules, and integrates with National e-Governance Services Limited for electronic bank guarantees.
• Telangana. The state runs its own platform, “used by all Government Departments, Public Sector Undertakings, Urban Local Bodies and Universities in the State”, with its own supplier registration.

Which portal a tender lives on, and who publishes where, is on the portals. The rule for a bidder is the same everywhere: read that portal's own help pages before its first deadline, not during.

A checklist for the last hour

Every line here is from a portal's own help text, read on the date this page carries.

1. Token in the machine, certificate valid, logged in on the browser you rehearsed on.
2. Portal's server time on screen; your own clock ignored.
3. Fee and earnest money paid and confirmed, or the exemption entry made: done a day earlier, not now.
4. Files in a permitted format, named, and the BoQ filled in the issued sheet.
5. Do not leave the session sitting idle while you look for a document.
6. Freeze the bid. Keep the acknowledgment.
7. If something is wrong, resubmit and freeze again. Do not withdraw.

Reading the notice that set all these dates is how to read a Notice Inviting Tender, and the stage this page sits in is on the tender lifecycle.