Kisan Call Center Services

Transcription

1 Request For Proposal For Providing Kisan Call Center Services TO Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India RFP No.: TCIL/15/692/I/07-MM/19E Dated : July 11, 2007 Telecommunications Consultants India Limited Material Management Division TCIL Bhawan, Greater Kailash-I New Delhi

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 DEFINITIONS PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND SCOPE OF WORK PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVE PROCEDURE CALL CENTER SET-UP SCOPE OF WORK MINIMUM PRESCRIBED REMUNERATION OF KISAN CALL CENTRE AGENTS INSTRUCTION TO BIDDERS PURCHASE OF RFP DOCUMENT ELIGIBLE BIDDERS COST OF BIDDING: CLARIFICATION ON BIDDING DOCUMENTS AMENDMENT OF BIDDING DOCUMENTS LANGUAGE OF BID DOCUMENTS COMPRISING THE BIDS SUBMISSION OF BID BID PRICE BID SECURITY PERIOD OF VALIDITY OF BIDS FORMAT AND SIGNING OF BID SEALING AND MARKING OF BID BID DUE DATE OPENING OF BIDS BY TCIL EXAMINATION AND EVALUATION OF BIDS AWARD OF CONTRACT TCIL S RIGHT TO VARY QUANTITIES TCIL S RIGHT TO REJECT ANY OR ALL BIDS NOTIFICATION OF SUCCESSFUL BIDDER AND ACCEPTANCE BY SUCCESSFUL BIDDER GENERAL CONDITIONS FOR BIDDING GOVERNING LANGUAGE APPLICABLE LAW CHANGE IN LAW USE OF BID DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION PERFORMANCE SECURITY PAYMENT TERMS TIME SCHEDULE TAXES & DUTIES LIQUIDATED DAMAGES PENALTY COMPENSATION FOR CHANGE OF LOCATION OF A KISAN CALL CENTRE REDUCTION OF CHARGES UPON INCREASE IN NUMBER OF SHIFTS IN A KISAN CALL CENTRE 29 TCIL Page 2 of 42

3 4.13 PROBATION PERIOD CONTRACT PERIOD IMPLEMENTATION SERVICES ACCEPTANCE TESTING BOOKS & RECORDS NOTICE FORCE MAJEURE INDEMNIFICATION DEFAULT AND TERMINATION TERMINATION FOR INSOLVENCY RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FORMS AND SCHEDULES BID LETTER FORM BID SECURITY FORM BID PRICE SCHEDULE FORMAT FOR PERFORMANCE BANK GUARANTEE 42 TCIL Page 3 of 42

4 1.0 Definitions In this document, the following terms shall have respective meanings as indicated: 1. TCIL shall mean Telecommunications Consultants India Limited, New Delhi. The term TCIL includes successors and assigns of TCIL. 2. DAC shall mean Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India. The term DAC includes successors and assigns of DAC. 3. RFP shall mean, Tender Document or Bidding Document including the written clarifications issued by TCIL/DAC in respect of the RFP. 4. Authorized Representative/Agency shall mean any person/agency authorized by TCIL/DAc. 5. Contract shall mean the Purchase Order placed by TCIL on successful Bidder and all attached exhibits and documents referred to therein and all terms and conditions thereof together with any subsequent modifications thereto. 6. KCC shall mean Kisan Call Centre scheme of Department of Agriculture & Cooperation. 7. CCA shall mean Call Centre Agent in the KCC. 8. Shift shall mean an eight-hour shift by one CCA. 9. Nodal Agency shall mean the DAC appointed organization, which shall act as an administration agency on behalf of DAC and shall be responsible for organizing training for the call center agents. 10. Shift Factor shall mean the percentage of additional CCAs required for provisioning of weekly off days and leaves of the CCAs as the KCCs will operate on 16x7 basis 365 days of the year. 11. Site shall mean the location(s) for which the work has been allotted and where the services are to be delivered. 12. Specifications shall mean and include schedules, details, description, statement of technical data, performance characteristics, standards (Indian as well as International) as applicable and specified in the Bidding Documents 13. Bidder means the firm/consortium offering the solution(s), services and / or materials required in the RFP. The word Bidder when used in the pre award period shall be synonymous with Bidder, and when used after intimation of Successful Bidder shall mean the Successful Bidder, also called Supplier, on whom TCIL places Purchase Order for Delivery of services. TCIL Page 4 of 42

5 14. Party shall mean TCIL/DAC or Bidder individually and Parties shall mean TCIL/DAC and Bidder collectively. 15. Services means requirements defined in this including all additional services associated thereto to be delivered by the Supplier. 16. Installation means the supplier s written notification that the system required for delivery of the desired Services have been installed by the Supplier in accordance with requirements and the project plan, and is ready for the acceptance testing. 17. Probation Period is the period specified following Partial Acceptance during which the Supplier s performance obligations in respect of the Services will be monitored before confirmation of award. 18. Partial Acceptance means the DAC/TCIL s written certification that following installation; the Site has been tested and verified as complete and/or fully operational, in accordance with the acceptance test defined in the Acceptance Test Documents. 19. Final Acceptance means the DAC/TCIL s written certification that the Services being delivered during the Probation has been verified as satisfactory in accordance with the defined Specifications. 20. "Acceptance Test Documents" means a mutually agreed document, which defines procedures for carrying out complete test on the site against specifications. It should define tests to be carried out, test equipment and expected test results. 21. Intellectual Property Right, also called IPR, means any and all copyrights, moral rights, trademarks, patent, and other intellectual proprieties. 22. Law" or "Legislation" - shall mean any Act, notification, bye law, rules and regulations, directive, ordinance, order or instruction having the force of law enacted or issued by the Government of India or State Government or regulatory authority or political subdivision of government agency. 23. "Third Party Agency" shall mean any agency appointed by TCIL/ DAC for monitoring the Systems during commissioning and operation. 24. Registration under OSP category shall mean organizations registered with DoT under category of other suppliers for domestic call center services. TCIL Page 5 of 42

6 2.0 Project Description and Scope of Work 2.1 Project Description and Objective TCIL has been appointed by Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, (also called the DAC ), to launch and operate the Kisan Call Centers (KCCs) to provide Agriculture related information to the farmers in India on turnkey basis. TCIL invites bids from eligible Call Centre operators to offer their services for operation of Kisan Call Centres in all states/ union territories of India. It is not intended to set up the infrastructure for these call centers but to hire the infrastructure including Call Center Agents on lease basis from the existing call centers. However, the bidder may be required to set up call centers in those locations where call centre facilities do not exist presently. It is proposed to have a separate Kisan Call Centre for each state/ union territory (UT) of India. A list of towns/ cities where these Call Centers are proposed to be located and the number of shifts in each of these Call Centres is given in Table 2.1 below: Table 2.1 Kisan Call Center Locations, Languages & No. of Shifts SN State/ UT KCC Location Language No. of Shifts Shift 1 Shift 2 6AM 2PM 10AM-6PM Hyderabad Telugu Andhra Pradesh 2. Arunachal Pasighat Adi Pradesh 3. Assam Guwahati Assamese Bihar Samastipur Hindi Chattisgarh Raipur Hindi Delhi New Delhi Hindi Dadar, Nagar Haveli Anand Gujarati Gujarat Gujarati Haryana Hissar Hindi/ Haryanvi Shift 3 2PM-10PM TCIL Page 6 of 42

7 9. Himachal Pradesh 10. Jammu & Kashmir Shimla Hindi Jammu Dogri, Kashmiri, Ladakhi Jharkhand Ranchi Hindi Karnataka Bangalore Kannada Kerala Trichur Malayalam Lakshdweep Malayalam Madhya Jabalpur Hindi Pradesh 15. Maharashtra VANAMATI Marathi Goa, Daman Nagpur Goan & Diu 16. Manipur Imphal Manipuri Meghalaya Shillong Khasi Mizoram Aizwal Mizo Nagaland Medziphema Nagamese Orissa Bhubaneswar Oriya Punjab & Chandigarh Punjabi Chandigarh 22. Rajasthan Jaipur Hindi Sikkim Gangtok Sikkimese Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry Coimbatore Tamil Andaman & Tamil Nicobar 25. Tripura Agartala Bengali Uttar Kanpur Hindi Pradesh 27. Uttarakhand Pantnagar Hindi West Bengal Kolkata Bengali DAC/TCIL would have the right to change the location for one or more of the Kisan Call Centres, even completely stop a Kisan Call Centre, for one or more states/ UTs and vary quantities (i.e., no. of seats/ shifts in the Kisan Call Centres), at the time of award of the contract and/or subsequently at any time during the contract period. The Kisan Call Centers will be accessible by the farmers on toll free Telephone Number. As indicated in Table 2.1 above, the calls initiated from a given state/ UT TCIL Page 7 of 42

8 shall land in the Kisan Call Center of that state/ UT. The Kisan Call Center will have facilities to answer the queries of Farmers. During normal office timings, call center operators will act as a first level of support and it is envisaged that majority of queries will be replied by these first level operators or Call Center Agents with the minimum prescribed academic qualification in the field of Agriculture. In case, these Call Center Agents are unable to answer the queries, the caller will be referred to DAC experts in a conference call along with the information collected by the Call Center Agent. The office hours for the KCCs would be 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM, and the KCCs would operate on all days including Sundays and Holidays. During 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM in the night, appropriate IVRS prompt in local language would be played informing the caller about the working hours of the KCC. The English script for this message would be provided by DAC/ TCIL. Various MIS data/ reports generated from the call data recorded by the Kisan Call Centers is required to be provided to TCIL/ DAC on pre-defined regular intervals so as to optimize the operations of the Kisan Call Centers. TCIL and DAC are also in the process of developing Kisan Knowledge Management System (KKMS), an application software to maintain the database of state wise Agricultural Package of Practices supported by the database build up using the Frequently Asked Questions, other queries and their answers being provided by the Call Center Agents and DAC experts. In future, the Kisan Call Centre agents would be required to access KKMS over the Internet to find answer to a query from the farmers. 2.2 Procedure The Procedure for handling the Call is as given below: a) The Kisan Call Center shall receive the queries of farmers through the toll free number TCIL/DAC shall bear the call charges of the Toll Free Numbers and the outgoing telephones used for contacting experts designated by DAC for call escalation. Currently, all incoming telephone lines of the KCCs are from a single operator, i.e., either BSNL or MTNL. However, it is now envisaged that the KCCs TCIL Page 8 of 42

9 would have incoming telephone lines from multiple operators. Hence, it is essential that the incoming telephone lines are routed through EPABX system in the Kisan Call Centre in order to allow handling telephone lines from more than one telecom operator. The system will also have the capability of Call Holding and Skill-based Call Routing facilities at the option of DAC/TCIL. b) The Call Center Agent with the prescribed minimum academic qualification in the field of Agriculture and excellent communication skills in respective local language shall attend these calls. These Call Center Agents are considered as Level 1 (L1) support of Kisan Call Centers. c) Minimum qualification of a Call Centre Agent will be as follows: 1) Graduation in Agriculture or allied disciplines with a First Class, 2) Graduation degree should be from the same state. In case no Agriculture Graduates of the same state are available or there is no Agriculture College/ University in the state, the Call Centre Operator may appoint a Call Centre Agent with Graduation Degree in Agriculture from a neighboring state in the region with proficiency in local language of the state 3) The CCA must have fluency in the local language/ dialect. d) The Call Center Agents shall record the name, address, sex, contact details, queries, status of the calls, type/ subject of the query, etc in a suitable format which is approved by DAC/ TCIL. The Call Centre Agent shall answer the query of the farmer. The information including the query asked and the answer given shall be recorded in a database and shall be used for the purpose of preparing MIS reports. The information shall also be sent to TCIL on regular basis at predefined intervals (present requirement is every third day). Further details in this respect would be worked out with the successful bidder. e) In future, the Kisan Call Centre Agent would be required to access the KKMS Application System being developed currently by DAC/ TCIL over the Internet to find the answer to a query from the farmer. f) The Call Centre Agent would also be required to refer to some relevant websites maintained by Central/ State Government agencies as well as other popular and TCIL Page 9 of 42

10 reliable websites to answer some of the queries like market information and whether related queries etc. from the farmer. The Call Centre Agent must, therefore, have on-line access to these sites over the Internet. g) DAC shall nominate the Agriculture Experts from various Agricultural Organizations/ Institutions in India to provide Level 2 (L2) and Level 3 (L3) support to the Agents. A list of these experts (approx 5 experts per state) for the respective states shall be provided to the Call Centers. DAC shall organize necessary training to these experts and shall also arrange necessary infrastructure for them. h) In case, the Call Center Agent (Level 1 Support) is not able to answer the query, he/ she shall refer the caller in a conference call to the designated expert for Level 2 support. Simultaneously, the information given by DAC experts shall also be recorded in the MIS Database at the call center by the L1 agent. i) The expenditure incurred for carrying out the conference call will be reimbursed by TCIL/DAC to the successful bidder on monthly actual basis. j) The Experts at Level 2 Support shall try to answer the calls. In case, Experts at Level 2 Support are not able to answer the Calls then the Call will remain pending. These will be compiled by the Kisan Call Centre and sent to the designated Nodal Agency/ Directorate in print/ format for Level 3 support. k) The Kisan Call Center shall operate from 6:00am to 10:00pm on all days including Sundays and Gazetted Holidays on 16x7 basis. During the non-working hours of Call Center, i.e., from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM, appropriate IVRS prompt in local language would be played informing the caller about the working hours of the KCC. TCIL Page 10 of 42

11 2.3 Call Center Set-up The broad Schematic Diagram of the Kisan Call Center is given below: 2.4 Scope of Work TCIL wants to hire existing Call Center operators who can facilitate the following: a) Provide requisite infrastructure to handle the calls as per the procedure given in section 2.2 and schematic diagram shown in 2.3. Some of the facilities/ equipment which must be provided in the Kisan Call Centre are as follows: a. Desktop PCs for each seat b. At least one Server c. Local Area Network TCIL Page 11 of 42

12 d. Appropriate no. of incoming and outgoing telephone lines e. Internet facility on all PCs f. Required no. of telephone instruments g. Hot Button Programming on all Telephone sets h. Conferencing Facility on Telephone sets i. Head phones for each agent j. Air conditioning k. IVRS l. EPABX b) Provide requisite number of Call Center Agents for the Kisan Call Centres for each State/ UT. The Call Center Agents shall be at least a Graduate in Agriculture or allied disciplines with first class and should have graduated from the same state. In case no Agriculture Graduates of the same state are available or there is no Agriculture College/ University in the state, the Call Centre Operator may appoint a Call Centre Agent with Graduation Degree from a neighboring state in the region with proficiency in local language of the state. The CCAs should be from varied disciplines of agriculture as far as possible depending on the number of seats in the KCC and the dominant farming systems prevalent in the state. The CCAs shall have excellent knowledge of various dialects of the respective Local Language, and communication skills so that the Agent is able to communicate and understand the queries of Farmers easily. In addition, the agent should also have good knowledge of English Language so that he/ she is able to record the queries and other necessary details. TCIL has the right to evaluate the Call Center Agents appointed by the Supplier at any stage and can reject them in case they are not found suitable. Under such circumstances, the Supplier shall replace the Call Center Agents within one week. TCIL will have right to increase or decrease the number of Call Center Agents depending on the response received over a period. c) Provide facilities for establishing conference calls with DAC experts and maintain a record of these calls, queries, and answers given. TCIL Page 12 of 42

13 d) Proposed shift timings as follows: Morning Shift: 6.00 AM to 2.00 PM Day Shift: AM to 6.00 PM Evening Shift 2.00 PM to PM e) Provide facilities to put the call centre on IVRS during non working hours. f) Provide first level software to record the call details and should be able to issue the docket number for each call for future reference. This database shall be accessible to users, based on role and will help in performing day-to-day operations of the call center. It will also be used for generating MIS reports. g) Provide MIS Reports like pending calls, trends, call utilization, classification wise problems etc. MIS reports will be finalized in consultation with DAC/ TCIL. h) The Supplier would be responsible for installation, shifting and payment of regular telephone bills for the KCC telephone connections, both for incoming (for receiving 1551 calls from farmers) and outgoing (for conferencing with L2 experts) telephone lines in the KCC and for settling day-to-day issues related to breakdowns, billing, disconnections etc. with the telephone companies. The KCC supplier would bear the cost of registration charges, installation charges, and security deposits, if any, for the telephone connections in the KCC, whereas DAC/TCIL would reimburse the payments made towards telephone bills to the supplier without any extra service charges. Any disputes with the telecom operator would be handled by the KCC Supplier. i) Currently, all incoming telephone lines of the KCCs are from a single operator, i.e., either BSNL or MTNL. However, it is now envisaged that the KCCs would have incoming telephone lines from multiple operators. Hence, it is essential that the incoming telephone lines will be routed through EPABX system in the Kisan Call Centre in order to allow handling telephone lines from more than one telecom operator. The system will also have the capability of Call Holding and Skill-based Call Routing facilities at the option of DAC/TCIL. TCIL Page 13 of 42

14 2.5 Minimum Prescribed Remuneration of Kisan Call Centre Agents a) The successful bidder will pay a minimum consolidated remuneration of Rupees Ten Thousand (Rs.10,000/-) per month to the CCAs. Any extra cost that may be incurred towards any statutory contributions by the successful bidder towards the Call Centre Agent the will be to the account of the successful bidder. The successful bidder is, however, free to pay higher remuneration, extra facilities and allowances to the CCAs on their own for their own reasons. In the event of genuine unavailability of Call Centre Agents with the prescribed qualification, an Agent with a lesser academic qualification but having experience/knowledge in Agriculture field may be appointed only with the explicit prior approval of DAC. However, the minimum prescribed consolidated compensation for such candidates will be Rupees Seven Thouand (Rs. 7,000) only per month, all other conditions remaining the same and TCIL/DAC would deduct an amount of Rupees Three Thousand (Rs. 3,000/-) per shift per month for each such Agent appointed in the KCCs by the successful bidder. b) DAC/TCIL may decide to increase the minimum remuneration of the CCAs subsequently and would, in that case, reimburse the increased amount to the successful bidder taking into consideration the shift factor quoted by the supplier. However, the successful bidder would adjust any additional statutory costs it requires to incur towards the Agents against the amount of increase in remuneration from the prescribed increased amount. An example is given below explaining the above. Example: DAC/TCIL decide to increase the minimum remuneration of the CCAs by Rs. 2,000 per month. The supplier is required to contribute 18.5% of the increase in remuneration as per statutory requirement. Hence, the supplier utilizes the increase of Rs. 2,000 as follows: I. Increase of CCAs monthly remuneration: Rs II. Employer Statutory Contribution towards Agent Rs. 312 Total of I) & II) : Rs TCIL Page 14 of 42

15 Assuming that the quoted shift factor of the supplier is 50%, TCIL/DAC would reimburse an amount of Rs per shift to the supplier. TCIL Page 15 of 42

16 3.1 Purchase of RFP document 3.0 Instruction to Bidders Interested bidders may purchase the RFP document on payment of a non-refundable fee of Rs. 400/- (Indian Rupees Four Hundred only) towards the cost of the RFP document through a demand draft (cash payment not acceptable) in favour of Telecommunications Consultants India Limited drawn on any schedule bank and payable in Delhi. The RFP can be purchased on any working day upto from the O/O GGM (MM), TCIL, TCIL Bhawan, 4 th Floor, G.K. I, New Delhi The Complete RFP document can also be downloaded from TCIL s website However, the bidder is required to pay the prescribed fee of Rs. 400/- along with the Technical bid through a demand draft in favour of Telecommunications Consultants India Limited drawn on any schedule bank and payable in Delhi. 3.2 Eligible Bidders Eligibility of the bidders shall be on the basis of their technical, financial strength and track record. The bidder is required to submit documentary evidence in support of the following: (a) This Invitation for Bids is open to any company having a minimum 160 Call Center seats. (b) The bidder shall have a minimum average annual turnover of Indian Rupees 7.2 Crores in last three financial years from Call Center business. (c) The bidder should preferably have experience in executing similar project in the area of Agriculture or its allied verticals or other technical areas requiring technically qualified manpower as Call Centre Agents. (d) The bidder shall preferably have a valid quality certification. (e) Registration under OSP category: Bidder is required to provide a list of its existing call centers proposed to be used for KCC service and their registration status with Department of Telecom, Govt. of India, under OSP category for providing domestic call center services. The successful bidder is required to TCIL Page 16 of 42

17 (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) have registration of all Kisan Call Centers under OSP category for providing domestic call center services. The bidder shall provide the list of its existing Call Centres in different places of India from where it proposes to provide the KCC services. The bidder shall also provide the list of places where it proposes to set up new call centers specifically for providing the KCC service. The bid offer should be for providing Kisan Call Centre service for all the states/ union territories and in the languages specified in this RFP document. Any bid not offering KCC services for all the states/ union territories and in the languages specified is not acceptable. The Bidder and each member in case of Consortium shall disclose details pertaining to all claims, disputes, matters in appeal & in court and any pending litigation against the bidder or any member of the Consortium. The bidder has to submit list of clients and details of services being provided to them by the bidder. The bidder has to submit Performance Certificate from its clients. 3.3 Cost of Bidding: (a) (b) The Bidder shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of the Bid, and TCIL will, in no case, be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the bidding process. Bidder is expected to examine all instructions, forms, terms, specifications, and other information in the bidding documents. Failure to furnish all information required by the bidding documents or to submit a bid not substantially responsive to the bidding documents in every respect will be at bidder s risk and may result in the rejection of Bid. 3.4 Clarification on Bidding Documents Bidder, requiring clarification on the RFP may submit queries/ clarifications to TCIL in writing, at the address indicated above, at least 7 days before the deadline for the submission of the bid. TCIL will not respond to any such petition received after this date. TCIL Page 17 of 42

18 3.5 Amendment of Bidding Documents (a) At any time prior to the deadline for submission of bids, TCIL, for any reason, whether at its own initiative or in response to the clarifications requested by prospective Bidders may modify the bidding documents by issuing amendment(s). (b) All eligible Bidders will be notified of the amendment(s) in writing/ through E- mail, and these will be binding on them. (c) In order to allow eligible Bidders a reasonable time to take the amendment into account in preparing their bids, TCIL, at its discretion, may extend the deadline for the submission of bids. 3.6 Language of Bid The Bid prepared by the Bidder, as well as all correspondence and documents relating to the Bid exchanged by the Bidder and TCIL, shall be written in English. Supporting documents and printed literature furnished by the bidder may be in another language provided they are accompanied by an accurate translation of the relevant pages in English. For the purposes of interpretation of the bid, the translation shall govern. Information supplied in another language without proper translation shall be rejected. 3.7 Documents Comprising the Bids (a) The bidder shall submit only options, which is in accordance with the specifications and requirements. (b) The bid submitted shall have the following documents: Part I (Technical bid) Bid Form as described in the bidding document, duly filled in by the Bidder. a) The bid security b) Bid Letter Form c) Power of Attorney for signing the bid d) Organizational, Financial, and Technical capabilities as per the format given. e) Service tax registration number, works contract tax clearance certificate, bank s certificate of solvency and a statement from their TCIL Page 18 of 42

19 bank certifying their financial capability to undertake the project. f) Bid Documents duly signed in Original (with photocopies in Copy 1 & 2) on all pages. g) Clause by clause Compliance statement for all clauses/ sections (including all Annexure). Deviation statement as applicable h) Full description of design and layout of call centers with complete Technical and Engineering details. i) The bid shall specify time schedule of various activities with a PERT or similar chart. j) The bidder shall disclose details pertaining to any pending litigation against them or any of its owners / partners. k) Any additional information as asked for by TCIL. Part II (Financial Bid) Price bid signed in original and two copies as per formats in Section-6. a) Once quoted, the bidder shall not make any subsequent price changes. Such price changes shall render the bid liable for rejection. b) TCIL may at its discretion ask for revision of bid(s). (c) TCIL shall not be bound by any printed conditions or provisions in the Bidder s Bid Forms. 3.8 Submission of Bid (a) Bids must be delivered to the address given below on or before upto 3:00 PM. Late bids will be rejected. All bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security of Rupees 2,50,000/- (Rupees Two Lakhs Fifty Thousand only) in the form of a bank guarantee in the prescribed format valid for a period of 150 days from the date of opening of bid. Technical Bids will be opened in the presence of bidders representatives who choose to attend at the address given below on at 4:00 PM. TCIL Page 19 of 42

20 GGM(MM) Telecommunications Consultants India Limited TCIL Bhawan, 4 th Floor Greater Kailash - Part I New Delhi Tel: Fax:: [email protected] Website: http// (b) Offer by fax / will not be acceptable. 3.9 Bid Price (a) The bidder shall indicate the prices in Indian Rupees only. (b) Bidders are required to quote a single monthly shift rate, which will be applicable for all the shifts and for all KCC locations. (c) The monthly rate for a shift (a shift being an eight-hour shift by one CCA) will include all infrastructure related expenses of the Supplier (including the cost of registration charges, installation charges and initial deposits for telephone connections of the KCCs) and the consolidated monthly remuneration as well as all associated expenses like shift allowance, conveyance, any statutory expenses like employer s contribution towards PF & ESI etc. towards hiring of the CCA by the Supplier. The monthly rate will also include the shift factor required for provisioning of weekly off days and leaves of the CCAs as the KCCs will operate on 16x7 basis 365 days of the year. The shift factor applied would be explicitly specified in the financial offer and should be justifiable. (d) Bidders are required to give total cost as well. (e) Unit and total prices of services including infrastructure offered should be quoted with breakup of all taxes and duties, and all other cost incidental thereto. (f) Prices quoted by the bidder shall be fixed. Bids submitted with adjustable price quotations will be rejected Bid Security (a) The Bidder shall furnish in a separate envelope, as part of the Bid, a Bid security for the amount of Rs. 2.5 Lakhs ( Rupees Two Lakhs and Fifty Thousand only) in form of the bank guarantee valid for a period of 150 days from the date of TCIL Page 20 of 42

21 opening of bid. (b) The Bid security shall be in Indian Rupees and shall be in the form of Bank Guarantee in favour of Telecommunications Consultants India Limited, New Delhi, issued by a scheduled bank in India and having at least one branch office in New Delhi, India. Such negotiable instrument should be valid for at least thirty (30) days beyond the validity of the Bid. (c) Unsuccessful Bidder's Bid security will be discharged or returned within thirty (30) days after the expiration of the period of Bid validity. (d) The successful Bidder's Bid security will be discharged upon the Bidder furnishing the Performance Guarantee. (e) The Bid security may be forfeited either in full or in part, at the discretion of TCIL, on account of one or more of the following reasons: i The Bidder withdraws their Bid during the period of Bid validity specified by them on the Bid letter form ii Bidder does not respond to requests for clarification of their Bid iii Bidder fails to co-operate in the Bid evaluation process, and iv In case of a successful Bidder, the said Bidder fails: to sign the Contract Agreement in time; or to furnish Performance Guarantee 3.11 Period of Validity of Bids (a) Bids shall remain valid for a period of 120 days, from the due date of bid submission. Any Bid valid for a shorter period shall be rejected as nonresponsive. (b) In exceptional circumstances, TCIL may solicit Bidder's consent to an extension of the period of validity. The request and the responses thereto shall be made in writing. The Bid security shall also be suitably extended. A Bidder granting the request is neither required nor permitted to modify the Bid Format and Signing of Bid (a) The bidder shall prepare original + two (1+2) copies of the bid clearly marking each Original Bid or Copy of Bid as appropriate. In the event of any discrepancy between them, the original shall govern. TCIL Page 21 of 42

22 (b) The original and all copies of the bid shall be typed or written in indelible ink and shall be signed by the bidder or a person duly authorized to bind the bidder to the Bid. The person or persons signing the bid shall initial all pages of the bid, except for un-amended printed literature. (c) The complete bid shall be without alteration or erasures, except those to accord with instructions issued by the TCIL or as necessary to correct errors made by the bidder, in which case such corrections shall be initialed by the person or persons signing the bid Sealing and Marking of Bid (a) Bidder shall submit their bids in two Separate Parts in sealed envelopes superscribed with the RFP document number, due date, time, Project and nature of bid (Technical bid, Financial bid). PART-I: Original and 2 copies of Technical Bid complete with all technical details along with Bid Security. PART-II: Original and 2 copies of Financial Bid ONLY with full price details. (b) The envelopes containing Part-I and Part-II of the offer should be enclosed in a larger envelope duly sealed. All pages of the offer must be signed. (c) The outer envelope shall indicate the name and address of the bidder to enable the bid to be returned unopened in case it is declared late. (d) If these envelopes are not sealed and marked as required, TCIL will assume no responsibility for the bid s misplacement or premature opening Bid Due Date (a) Bid must be received by TCIL at the address and not later than at 3:00 PM. Bids received after this deadline will be rejected and returned to the bidder unopened. (b) The TCIL may, at its discretion, on giving reasonable notice in writing to all eligible Bidders who have been issued the bid documents, extend the bid due date, in which case all rights and obligations of TCIL and the Bidder, previously subject to the bid due date, shall thereafter be subject to the new bid due date or deadline as extended. TCIL Page 22 of 42

23 3.15 Opening of Bids by TCIL (a) Technical Bids will be opened at 4:00 PM on 10 th August 2007 at the following address: Material Management Division (4 th Floor) Telecommunications Consultants India Limited TCIL Bhawan, Greater Kailash-I New Delhi (a) Bidder s representatives (Maximum 2) may attend the opening, and those who are present shall sign a register evidencing their attendance. (b) The Bidder s names, Bid modifications or withdrawals and such other details as TCIL at its discretion, may consider appropriate, will be announced at the time of opening Examination and Evaluation of Bids (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) Bids without a valid bid security in the prescribed format will be rejected. Technical bid will be examined based on the following criteria: Bidder s Eligibility requirements as defined in ITB 3.2 Compliance to technical and commercial terms and conditions, Other information as asked for in the bidding document. Full description of Call Centers with complete technical details Time schedule for execution In the second step, TCIL may ask Bidder(s) for additional information, visit to Bidder s site and/ or arrange discussions with their professional, technical faculties to verify claims made in Technical Bid documentation. Technical qualification of bidders shall be made on the basis of conformity to technical and operational requirements, and time schedule for execution of project. Financial bids of only those bidders will be opened whose technical bids are found to be responsive & acceptable to TCIL. Bidder s representative may attend the Financial Bid opening. TCIL Page 23 of 42

24 (f) (g) (h) TCIL may at its discretion discuss with Bidder(s) available at this stage to clarify contents of Financial bids. If there is a discrepancy between the unit price & the total price, the unit price shall prevail and TCIL shall correct the total price. If there is a discrepancy between words & figures, the amount in words shall prevail. If the bidder does not accept the correction of errors, his bid shall be rejected. Bids will be evaluated on the basis of three years Award of Contract TCIL will award the contract to successful bidder whose bid has been determined to be responsive and has been determined to be most competitive provided further that the bidder is determined to be qualified to perform the project satisfactorily. TCIL shall however not bind itself to accept the lowest or any bid and reserves the right to accept any bid wholly or in part TCIL s Right to Vary Quantities TCIL reserves the right to increase or decrease, on need basis, the requirements and duration of services originally specified in the RFP document at the time of award or subsequently during execution of the project TCIL s right to Reject Any or All Bids TCIL reserves the right to reject any Bid, and to annul the bidding process and reject all bids at any time, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected Bidder(s) or any obligation to inform the affected Bidder(s) of the grounds for such decision Notification of Successful Bidder and Acceptance by Successful Bidder (a) Prior to expiration of the period of Bid validity, TCIL will notify the successful Bidder in writing that its Bid has been accepted by issuance of Letter of Intent (LOI). (b) Within 7 (Seven) days of receipt of such intimation, the successful Bidder shall give its acceptance to TCIL. (c) Within 7 (Seven) days of receipt of such intimation, the successful Bidder shall TCIL Page 24 of 42

25 submit Performance Guarantee to TCIL. (d) Upon the successful Bidder's furnishing of Performance Security, TCIL will promptly notify all unsuccessful Bidders and will discharge their Bid security. TCIL Page 25 of 42

26 4.0 General Conditions for Bidding These General Conditions shall supplement or amend the other parts of the Bidding Documents and whenever there is a conflict, provision herein shall prevail over those in the other parts of the Bidding Documents 4.1 Governing Language All correspondence and other documents to be exchanged by the parties shall be written in the English language. The version written in English language shall govern its interpretation. 4.2 Applicable Law Appropriate laws of Government of India shall apply. 4.3 Change in Law In the event of any Change in Law that affects the performance of the Supplier, the Supplier shall be given the benefit or burden resulting from such Change in Law. 4.4 Use Of Bid Documents And Information (a) All project related documents issued by TCIL shall remain the property of TCIL and originals and all copies shall be returned to TCIL on completion of the Supplier's performance, if so required by the TCIL. (b) The Supplier shall not without prior written consent of TCIL make use of any document or information made available for the project except for purposes of performing the job. 4.5 Performance Security (a) Within 7 days of the receipt of the notification of award from TCIL, the Supplier shall furnish a performance security for an amount of 10% (ten percent) of the Annual Value of Contract, using the performance security format to be provided by TCIL. TCIL Page 26 of 42

27 (b) The performance security shall be valid for at least 90 (ninety) days beyond the completion of contract period and shall be denominated in Indian rupees and shall be a bank guarantee in favour of TCIL, payable at New Delhi, issued by a scheduled bank in India through its branch in New Delhi, India. (c) The proceeds of the performance security shall be payable to TCIL as compensation for any loss resulting from the Supplier s failure to complete its obligations under this bid. TCIL shall notify the Supplier in writing of its invocation of its right to receive such compensation within 15 days, indicating the reasons for which the Supplier is in default. (d) The performance security shall be discharged by TCIL and returned to the Supplier within 30 days from the date of final certificate certifying the fulfillment of the performance obligations under this Bid. (e) The Supplier shall furnish amendment to the Performance Security, if required, within 15 days of notification. 4.6 Payment Terms The invoices towards the Services Rendered shall be submitted to TCIL on monthly basis at the end of every month for the no. of seats actually deployed during the month as per the agreed number of seats. TCIL shall release the payments to the Supplier on quarterly basis within 30 days after the receipt of the invoice for the last month of the quarter subject to satisfactory performance of the Contactor. 4.7 Time Schedule The bidder is required to complete the entire installation setup, in all respects, and make it operative, within the period of 60 days from the date of issue of Purchase Order. 4.8 Taxes & Duties (a) The Supplier is liable for all taxes and duties etc as applicable. (b) Mandatory taxes/ duties to be recovered/ withheld by TCIL will be deducted by TCIL. TCIL Page 27 of 42

28 4.9 Liquidated Damages (a) (b) If the supplier fails to offer the services and system within the periods specified in the Bid, TCIL shall, without prejudice to its other remedies under the Bid, deduct from the performance security, as liquidated damages, a sum equivalent to 1% of the Bid price for each week or part thereof of delay until Final Acceptance, up to a maximum deduction of the 10%. If the delay is more than 4 weeks, TCIL has the right to terminate the contract and encash the performance security 4.10 Penalty If any of the essential facilities/ equipment in a Kisan Call Centre is found nonfunctional beyond 48 hours, the same would be treated as deficiency of service. The list of such facilities/ equipment includes, but is not limited to the following items: a. Desktop PC b. Server c. Local Area Network d. Incoming/ outgoing telephone connection (due to reasons attributable to the Supplier) e. Internet facility f. Telephone instrument g. Hot Button Programming on a telephone instrument h. Conferencing Facility on telephone instrument i. Head phone j. Air Conditioning k. IVRS l. EPABX Penalty at the rate of Rs. 500 (Rupees Five Hundred) per day would be deducted from the monthly bill of the supplier for each such deficiency in the Kisan Call Centre. TCIL Page 28 of 42

29 4.11 Compensation for Change of Location of a Kisan Call Centre DAC/TCIL would have the right to change the location for one or more of the Kisan Call Centres, even completely stop a Kisan Call Centre, for one or more states/ UTs and vary quantities (i.e., no. of seats/ shifts in the Kisan Call Centres), at the time of award of the contract and/or subsequently at any time during the contract period. In case DAC/TCIL decides to change of location of a KCC for a state/ UT at any time during the contract period subsequent to establishment of that KCC, the supplier will be compensated for the same in the following manner: (a) If the new location is in the same city or town where the existing KCC is operating, then the supplier will be compensated by an amount equal to 25% of the monthly shift charges for that KCC (one time payment). (b) If the new location is in a different city or town from the place of the existing KCC, then the supplier will be compensated by an amount equal to one month shift charges for that KCC (one time payment) Reduction of charges upon increase in number of shifts in a Kisan Call Centre DAC/TCIL has the right to increase the number of shifts in the KCCs from time to time during the contract period. The agreed monthly basic shift rate for the new shifts in a KCC would remain the same as that agreed at the time of placement of order till the number of shifts in that KCC doubles from the original number of shifts at the time of placement of order. When the number of shifts in a KCC would exceed the original number of shifts by more than 100%, the basic monthly shift rate for the new shifts would be reduced by 10% of the originally agreed monthly shift rate. The above would be applicable KCC wise and not for the KCC scheme as a whole Probation Period (a) (b) The probation period shall be 30 days of continuous delivery of Services and operation of the Call Centres following Partial Acceptance. Final Acceptance will be given subject to the satisfactory performance during TCIL Page 29 of 42

30 Probation Period failing which the order shall stand automatically cancelled Contract Period The initial contract period will be for one-year from the date of Final Acceptance and will be renewable on yearly basis at the option of DAC/ TCIL up to a total period of three years Implementation Services The Supplier shall provide all services specified in the Technical Specifications in accordance with the highest standards of professional competence and integrity. TCIL reserves the right to require the replacement of any Supplier staff assigned to work on the site by suitable qualified staff, in the event that the staff concerned is determined to be incompetent or loses the confidence of TCIL Acceptance Testing Acceptance Test (AT) for the newly set-up KCCs shall be conducted by TCIL/ any appointed third party. The tests to be carried out, test procedure, test equipment and tools, and expected test results are to be provided by the successful bidder to meet all the specified parameters/ service requirements. The Test procedures /Test results shall be approved by TCIL/ any appointed third party Books & Records Supplier shall maintain adequate books and records/reports in connection with Contract and shall make them available for inspection and audit by TCIL/ DAC/ any appointed third party until expiry of the performance guarantee. Supplier shall maintain duty roaster and daily attendance record of the Call Centre Agents in each Kisan Call Centre. Supplier shall also maintain a downtime logbook to record downtime of each equipment/ facility in the Kisan Call Centre like telephone instruments, IVRS equipment, EPABX, Computers, Server, Air conditioner, Headphone sets, incoming/outgoing telephone connections etc. The format of the registers/ logbooks would be finalized in consultation with TCIL/ DAC. TCIL Page 30 of 42

31 If upon inspection of a Kisan Call Centre by TCIL or DAC or their authorised representative any equipment/ facility is found to be faulty or non-operational and no corresponding entry is found in the logbook specifying the date & time, the same equipment/facility would be considered to be faulty or non-operational since the first day of that month and Penalty would be imposed for the deficiency of service starting the first day of the month accordingly. Supplier shall send certified copies of the duty roaster, attendance record and downtime logbook for each month for each Kisan Call Centre to TCIL/DAC at the end of the month Notice Any notice given by one party to the other pursuant to this bid shall be sent to the other party in writing to the other party's address. A notice shall be effective from the date when Notice in writing is delivered or tendered or affixed at a conspicuous place whichever is earlier 4.19 Force Majeure If at any time the performance, in whole or in part, by either of any obligation under the contract, shall be prevented or delayed by reasons of any war or hostility, acts of public enemy, civil commotion, sabotage fire, flood, explosion, epidemic, quarantine restriction, strikes, or acts of god (hereinafter referred to as events), provided notice of happening of any such eventuality is given by either party to the other within 21 days from the date of occurrence of the event, party shall by reasons of such event, be entitled to determine the contract arising out of the contract nor shall either party have any claim for damages against the other in respect of such event. Obligations arising out of this contract shall resume after the event or events have come to an end or ceased to exist. The decision of TCIL as to whether such event or events have come to an end or ceased to exist or whether deliveries of the equipment by the Supplier have been resumed or not shall be final and conclusive. Provided both the parties may at their option terminate their obligations under the contract and thereupon TCIL shall be at liberty to take over from the Supplier all the works at a price to be fixed by TCIL, which shall be final, and the Supplier shall refund forthwith TCIL Page 31 of 42

32 the amount paid to him by TCIL Indemnification (a) Each Party ("Indemnifying Party") shall indemnify and hold harmless the other party from any and all damages, losses, penalties, expenses and costs arising from, based on, related to or associated with the inaccuracy of any representation or covenant set forth in this Bid or the breach of or failure to perform or satisfy any of the provisions of this Bid or for loss of or damage to property, death or injury to person. (b) The Supplier shall indemnify TCIL/DAC and hold it harmless from all suits, actions, debts, accounts, costs, losses, and expenses of all kinds (including legal expenses and professional advisory service expenses) arising from or out of any adverse claims of any and all persons related to the execution of services. (c) Notwithstanding anything expressed or implied in this Bid to the contrary:- i The parties shall indemnify, defend and hold the other harmless against any and all third party claims. ii such indemnity shall not extend to any loss, death or injury or any expenses relating thereto to the extent that it was caused by any act or omission of either party or the failure of either party to take reasonable steps in mitigation thereof. iii such indemnity shall not be applicable to any loss, damage, cost or expense in respect of, and to the extent that either party is compensated pursuant to the terms of any other Contract or under any policy of insurance. (d) For the purpose of this Article :- i TCIL shall include all persons directly or indirectly associated with TCIL including its employees. ii The Supplier shall include its directors, employees, agents, affiliates and sub-contractors. (e) Nothing in this Article whether expressed or implied shall relieve either Party of TCIL Page 32 of 42

33 any express obligation to make any payment due to the other Party under this Bid. (f) Properties and Facilities: The Supplier shall assume full responsibility and liability for the maintenance and operation of its properties and facilities and shall indemnify and hold TCIL harmless from all liability and expense on account of any and all damages, claims or actions, including injury to and death of persons, arising from any act, accident or omission in connection with or arising out of the installation, presence, maintenance and operation of properties and facilities of the Supplier. (g) Control and Possession The Supplier shall be deemed to be in control and possession of the equipment necessary for the proper and normal operation of the System Default and Termination (a) TCIL may, without prejudice to any other remedy for breach of contract, by written notice of default, sent to the Supplier, terminate the Contract for services in whole or in parts: i If the Supplier fails to deliver either the whole or part of the Services within the time period(s) specified in the Contract or any extension thereof granted by TCIL. ii If the Supplier fails to perform any other obligation(s) and, iii If the Supplier, in either of the above circumstances, does not cure its failure within a period of 30 days (or such longer period as TCIL may authorise in writing) after receipt of the default notice from TCIL. iv On a notice period of 60 days. (b) In the event TCIL terminates the Contract in whole or in part, TCIL may procure and install upon such terms and in such manner as it deems appropriate, similar setup and the Supplier shall be liable to TCIL for any excess cost for such setup. However, the Supplier shall continue performance of the Contract to the extent not terminated. TCIL Page 33 of 42

34 (c) All data /reports collected by the bidder shall be returned to TCIL in its original form upon such terminations. Bidder shall not have any right on this database, which is proprietary to TCIL/DAC Termination for Insolvency TCIL may at any time terminate the Contract by giving 30 (thirty) days written notice to the Supplier without compensation to the Supplier, if the Supplier becomes bankrupt or otherwise insolvent, provided that such termination will not prejudice or affect any right of action which has accrued or will accrue thereafter to TCIL Resolution of Disputes (a) (b) (c) (d) If any dispute arises between the Parties hereto during the subsistence or thereafter, in connection with the validity, interpretation, implementation or alleged material breach of any provision of the Contract or regarding a question, including the questions as to whether the termination of the Contract by one Party hereto has been legitimate, both Parties hereto shall endeavour to settle such dispute amicably. The attempt to bring about an amicable settlement is considered to have failed as soon as one of the Parties hereto, after reasonable attempts [which attempt shall continue for not less than 30 (thirty) days, give 15 days notice thereof to the other Party in writing. The place of the arbitration shall be New Delhi, India. The Arbitration proceeding shall be governed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996 as amended from time to time. The proceedings of arbitration shall be in English language TCIL Page 34 of 42

35 5.0 Functional Requirements A list of Functional Requirements envisaged by DAC/ TCIL is given below and the Supplier must send the compliance to these requirements. These requirements shall be seen in respect of the Project Description and Scope of work defined in section Each state/ union territory of India shall have a separate KCC in the locations indicated in Table There would be a distinctly separate unit/ enclosure for KCC when it is located in the general call centre of the Supplier. 3. Call Centre Agents would have the following minimum qualifications: Graduation in Agriculture or allied disciplines with First Class, Graduation degree should be from the same state. In case no Agriculture Graduates of the same state are available or there is no Agriculture College/ University in the state, the Call Centre Operator may appoint a Call Centre Agent with Graduation Degree in Agriculture from a neighboring state in the region with proficiency in the local language of the state, The CCA must have fluency in the local language/ dialect. 4. In the event of genuine unavailability of Call Centre Agents with the prescribed qualification in remote areas like the North East region, an Agent with a lesser academic qualification but having experience/knowledge in Agriculture field may be appointed only with the explicit prior approval of DAC. However, the minimum prescribed consolidated compensation for such candidates will be Rupees Seven Thouand (Rs. 7,000) only per month all other conditions remaining the same and TCIL/DAC would deduct an amount of Rupees Three Thousand per seat/shift per month for each such Agent appointed by the successful bidder. 5. Supplier shall appoint CCAs from varied disciplines of agriculture and allied sciences such as Veterinary, Fisheries, Sericulture etc. as far as possible depending on the number of seats in the KCC and the dominant farming systems prevalent in the state. TCIL Page 35 of 42

36 6. CCA shall be conversant with the local language/ dialect of the respective state/ UT. CCA shall also have good knowledge of the English language.it shall maintain general information in the database in the form of FAQs. For this, It shall be updating the database on regular basis. 7. Supplier shall recruit sufficient no. of CCAs in the call Centre as per the Shift Factor quoted for provisioning of weekly off days and leaves of the CCAs 8. It shall have sufficient numbers of the incoming lines with a facility to terminate additional 10 lines per location. 9. The incoming telephone lines will be routed through EPABX system in the Kisan Call Centre in order to allow handling telephone lines from more than one telecom operator. The system will also have the capability of Call Holding and Skill-based Call Routing facilities at the option of DAC/TCIL. 10. Supplier would be responsible for Installation, shifting and payment of regular telephone bills for the KCC telephone connections, both for incoming and outgoing lines in the KCC and for settling day-to-day issues related to breakdowns, billing, disconnections etc. with the telephone companies. The supplier would bear the cost of registration charges, installation charges and security deposits, if any, for the telephone connections in the KCC, whereas DAC/TCIL would reimburse the payments made towards regular telephone bills to the Supplier without any Service Charges. Any disputes with the Telecom Operator would be handled by the KCC Supplier. 11. Supplier shall have the mechanism in place to ensure that no unauthorized calls are made from the outgoing lines of the KCCs and the telephone charges of the KCC would be reasonably commensurate with the no. of calls recorded in the KCC MIS. Call charges for any unauthorized calls which cannot be justified satisfactorily by the supplier would not be reimbursed by TCIL/ DAC. 12. It shall have spare capacity to house at least 4 seats per state/ UT with an expansion capacity of 100% per state / UT in its existing Call Centres. 13. DAC/TCIL have the right to vary quantities, i.e., the number of shifts in the KCCs, even completely stop the KCC for one or more states at the time of award of the contract and/or subsequently at any time during the contract period. 14. In case Supplier intends to change the location of a KCC, it shall be required to give one month prior notice to DAC/TCIL and also obtain prior approval of TCIL Page 36 of 42

37 DAC/TCIL. 15. It shall have capability to logically partition the switching system to avoid interference with other set of users. 16. It shall have IVRS with support for more local languages wherever so required. These local languages are to be selected based on the location of the origin of call. 17. It shall be possible to customize the IVRS prompt as per the requirement of DAC/ TCIL. 18. It shall have Automatic Call Distribution feature based on Skill, Idleness, and utilization of each operator. 19. In case the operator is unable to answer the queries, it will be escalated to the experts from DAC on PSTN lines using call conferencing. The queries and replies given by DAC experts will also be logged into the database. For this, the availability of the outgoing PSTN lines and conferencing facilities are to be arranged by the bidder. 20. It shall have permanent Internet connectivity to send the MIS reports to TCIL electronically and to access KKMS Database whenever becomes available It shall have the facility to host the web portal. Details of hosting requirement and contents, if required, will be provided separately. 22. It is the responsibility of the bidder to co-ordinate for acquiring additional toll free lines and outgoing lines. 23. It is the responsibility of the successful bidder to co-ordinate with the Telecom Service Provider (s) of the toll free numbers to ensure 1551 call routing in their switches/ exchanges. 24. It shall have an uptime of 99% during the normal working times. 25. Calls are to be answered within 3 rings with hold time not more than 5 seconds. 26. It shall have feature to generate customized MIS reports as per the requirement of TCIL. 27. MIS Reports: The daily, weekly, monthly MIS reports shall include the following but not limited to: report on calls handled, call pending, average duration of calls, min. & max duration of calls, number of instances the operator found busy, calls abandoned due to breakdown, call made / referred to DAC experts. 28. Supplier shall send certified copies of the duty duty roaster, attendance record and downtime logbook for each month for each Kisan Call Centre to TCIL/DAC Comment: Is it practical need to define uptime TCIL Page 37 of 42

38 at the end of the month. 29. Supplier shall send telephone bills for all the KCCs along with a statement showing comparison of the actual telephone bills versus the recorded call details for each location to TCIL/ DAC for reimbursement of the telephone expenses. TCIL Page 38 of 42

39 6.0 Forms and Schedules 6.1 Bid Letter Form From (Registered name and address of the Bidder.) To Group General Manager (MM), Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd. TCIL Bhawan, Geater Kailash I, New Delhi Sir, Having examined the bidding documents, we the undersigned, offer to provide Services including all additional services associated thereto, also called the Services as detailed in the bidding document in response to your Request For Proposal No... dated... We undertake to: 1. Maintain validity of the Bid for a period of 120 days from the date of Bid opening as specified in the bidding document, which shall remain binding upon us and may be accepted at any time before the expiration of that period. 2. Provide Services for a period of three-year from the date of Final Acceptance on renewal basis every year in conformity with the bidding documents (and as amended from time to time). 3. Execute all contractual documents and provide all securities & guarantees as required in the bid document (and as amended from time to time). 4. Until a formal Contract is prepared and executed, this bid, together with your written acceptance thereof and your notification of award, shall constitute a binding Contract on us. Dated this day of. Witness: (Signatures with name and designation) Address: Signature. (in the capacity of) Duly authorised to sign bid for and on behalf of TCIL Page 39 of 42

40 6.2 Bid Security Form FORMAT OF BID BOND (EMD) Whereas. (hereinafter called the Bidder ) has submitted its bid dated For the supply of. Vide Tender No... dated KNOW ALL MEN by these presents that WE. OF. Having our registered office at.. (hereinafter called the Bank ) are bound unto Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (hereinafter called the Purchaser ) in the sum of Rs. for which payment will and truly to be made of the said Purchaser, the Bank binds itself, its successors and assigns by these present. THE CONDITIONS of the obligation are: 1. If the Bidder withdraws his bid during the period of bid validity specified by the Bidder on the Bid form or 2. If the Bidder, having been notified of the acceptance of his bid by the Purchaser during the period of bid validity (a) fails or refuses to execute the Contract, if required; or (b) fails or refuses to furnish the Performance Security, in accordance with the instructions to Bidders. We undertake to pay to the Purchaser up to the above amount upon receipt of its first written demand, without the purchaser having to substantiate its demand, provided that in its demand, the purchaser will note that the amount claimed by it is due to it owning to the occurrence of one or both of the two conditions, specifying the occurred condition or conditions. This guarantee will remain in force upto and including THIRTY (30) days after the Period of bid validity and any demand in respect thereof should reach the Bank not later than the specified date/dates. Signature of the Bank Authority Name Signed in Capacity of Name & Signature of witness Address of witness Full address of Branch Tel No. of Branch Fax No. of Branch TCIL Page 40 of 42

41 6.3 Bid Price Schedule Name of the Bidder: Monthly Basic Shift Rate (a) In Figures: Rs Taxes (Please specify details) (b) Monthly Basic Shift Rate including taxes (c ) = (a) + (b) Total No. of Shifts (d) Total Monthly Charges (e) = (c ) x (d) In Words: Rupees Shift Factor considered in Percentage In Figures:.% In Words:..Percent Please note: 1) The above rates shall remain valid for a period of three years from the date of award of the contract. 2) For the purpose of financial evaluation, an increase of Rs. 2,000/- including taxes shall be assumed and the Total Bid Price shall be computed as per the following formula: Total Bid Price = Quoted Monthly Basic Shift Rate including taxes + Rs. 2,000/- + ( Rs. 2000/- x Quoted Shift Factor Considered in Percentage ) For example, if the bidder has quoted Monthly Basic Shift Rate including taxes as Rs. 15,000/- and Shift Factor as 20%, then for financial evaluation purpose, the Total Bid Price will be calculated as follows: Total Bid Price = Rs. 15,000/- + Rs. 2,000/- + (Rs. 2,000/- x 20%) = Rs. 17,400/- Dated this day of. Signature. (in the capacity of) Duly authorised to sign bid for and on behalf of TCIL Page 41 of 42

42 6.4 Format for Performance Bank Guarantee PERFORMANCE BANK GUARANTEE M/s Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd., TCIL Bhawan, Greater Kailash-I New Delhi (INDIA) (With due stamp duty if applicable) OUR LETTER OF GUARANTEE No. : In consideration of TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANTS INDIA LIMITED, having its office at TCIL Bhawan, Greater Kailash-I, New Delhi (INDIA) (hereinafter referred to as TCIL which expression shall unless repugnant to the content or meaning thereof include all its successors, administrators and executors) and having entered into an agreement dated /issued Purchase Order No. dated with/on M/s (hereinafter referred to as The Supplier which expression unless repugnant to the content or meaning thereof, shall include all the successors, administrators, and executors). WHEREAS the Supplier having unequivocably accepted to supply the materials as per terms and conditions given in the Agreement dated /Purchase Order No. dated and TCIL having agreed that the Supplier shall furnish to TCIL a Performance Guarantee for the faithful performance of the entire contract, to the extent of 10% (ten percent) of the value of the Purchase Order i.e. for. We, ( The Bank ) which shall include OUR successors, administrators and executors herewith establish an irrevocable Letter of Guarantee No. in your favour for account of (The Supplier) in cover of performance guarantee in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Agreement/Purchase Order. Hereby, we undertake to pay upto but not exceeding (say only) upon receipt by us of your first written demand accompanied by your declaration stating that the amount claimed is due by reason of the Supplier having failed to perform the Agreement and despite any contestation on the part of above named supplier. This Letter of Guarantee will expire on including 30 days of claim period and any claims made hereunder must be received by us on or before expiry date after which date this Letter of Guarantee will become of no effect whatsoever whether returned to us or not. Authorized Signature Manager Seal of Bank TCIL Page 42 of 42