The Ultimate Guide about Restrictions on Public Procurement and Amending General Financial Rules 2017

The GFR stands for the General Financial Rule that has witnessed a current change for the new replacement happens in the Anti-China measures. In the compilation of rules and orders mentioned in the bill of GFR, 2017, public procurement is managed as it helps to maintain the financial transaction while purchasing goods or services. Observing this interrelation the current study will include the restrictions mentioned in the public procurement for some selected countries. 

General Financial Rule

All the rules generated by the Government of India regarding public finance are generally referred to as the General Finance Rule. These combinations of rules and order were first introduced in 1947 and the first modification of the order was done in the year 1963, later in 2005 and 2017. For including the changes that are made in the rules, a task force was established by the GOI for having a comprehensive discussion and reviewing the set-up of GFRs. The rules regarding the control of expenditure and budget formulation along with the implementation of those regulations have been changed according to the requirement. 

About The Amendment

In order to promote a safer supply division, the department of commerce has proposed several changes in the rules and orders described in GFR. The changes to rules have been made in the rules numbers 150, 155, 147, 149 and 225. In order to describe the power of procurement of goods, the rules will not be applicable for the Government e-Marketplace that falls under rule number 149. This department through a reasonable, fair and transparent procedure, according to the changes made to rule 150, will register the suppliers for the goods that are not available in the Government e-marketplace. 

Previous Anti-China Measures 

The government of India is determined to restrict the inflow of Chinese products and investment within the marketplace and e-marketplace of the country. It has been made compulsory by the Government of India that the sellers need to clarify or mention the country from which they belong or want to do business with Indian market holders. This particular order needs to be maintained strictly especially doing business in e-Marketplace. In addition, for the bidders who bid below 200 cores, the eligibility will be provided to only the bidders who belong to class I and class II. 

Restrictions on Public Procurement from certain countries

According to the announcement made on 23rd July 2020, by PIB Delhi, some restrictions on bidders have been imposed in some selected countries of India based on the ground of defence of India.  The proclamation has stated that if any kind of matter has been found, both directly and indirectly, national security will be in charge. Furthermore, it has been stated in the proclamation that any bidder from the land that shares the Indian border is eligible for bidding any procurement regarding any service or goods only if the bidder has registered with the component authority. In such cases, security and political clearance from the Ministries of Home affairs and Externals are mandatory.

New Orders about Anti-China Measures 

• The bidders can be eligible for the bidding if the bidding is registered with DPIIT
• The security and political clearance is mandatory to have
•  In all public procurement, the state government may be directed by the orders of the central government regarding the implementation of such restrictions or changes done in the rule of conduct

Exceptions to the Order

In the period of pandemic and post-pandemic situations, for managing the supply of medical products, a relation will be provided to the medical suppliers. In such critical scenarios of the Indian economy, the prior registered bidders will not be applied to the countries in which the Indian government has already extended credit lines. This order will be applicable to the countries that share land borders with India along with those with development assistance. 

Conclusion

The study has shown that the General Government of India has compiled some effective orders and rules in order to maintain the transaction while purchasing some goods and services. In these rules, the Indian Government has made a recent change in order to shape the Anti-China measures in a perfect manner. Based on this, the study has shed light on the amendments along with the explanation of the general financial rules as well.