The government e-marketplace portal also known as the GeM portal is hosted by the Directorate general of supplies and disposal, where common user goods and services can be obtained. The GeM portal is a self-sustaining, dynamic, and user-friendly portal for making procurement by government officers.
The GeM portal is a bold and sustainable way the government of India has transferred the procurement of goods and services. Public procurement is an important part of government activity and reform in public procurement is the top priority of the present government.
Let us understand a bit more about the Government e-marketplace in this article
The inception of the GeM portal began when two groups of secretaries made their recommendations to the Prime minister in January 2016. They suggested setting up a dedicated e-market for different goods and services procured or sold by the government /PSUs besides reforming the DGS&D. Furthermore, the finance minister in his budget speech for the FY 2016-17, announced a technology-driven platform to facilitate procurement of goods and services by various ministers and agencies of the government.
With the support of the National eGovernance Division, they developed the eGEM portal for the procurement of goods and services. It was launched on 9th August 2016 by the commerce and industry minister. The procurement of GeM has been authorized by general financial rules by making the necessary changes in the government rules. GeM is a completely paperless, cashless, and system-driven e-marketplace that enables procurement of common-use of goods and services with minimal human interface.
The GeM portal provides advantages to all the parties involved in the buying and selling of goods and services. Some of the GeM advantages are towards the:-
1. Rich listing of products for individual categories of Goods/Services
2. Search, Compare, Select and Buy facility
3. Buying Goods and Services online, as and when required.
4. Transparent and easy of buying
5. A continuous vendor rating system
6. User-friendly dashboard for Buying and monitoring supplies and payments
7. Easy Return policy
1. Direct access to all Government departments.
2. One-stop shop for marketing with minimal effort.
3. One-stop shop for bids / reverse auctions on products/services
4. New Product Suggestion facility available to Sellers
5. Dynamic pricing: Price can be changed based on market conditions
6. Seller-friendly dashboard for selling and monitoring supplies and payments
7. Consistent and uniform purchase procedures
GeM is an ambitious project by the government, which provides many facilities. Some of the GeM portal facilities are:-
1. Listing of products for individual, prescribed categories of Goods/ Services of common use
2. Look, estimate, compare, and buy facilities on a dynamic pricing basis.
3. Marketplace buying of a majority of common User Items.
4. Buying Goods and Services online, as and when required.
5. Single window system for aggregating demands and ordering
6. Transparency and ease of buying
7. Useful for low-value buying and also for bulk buying at a competitive price using Reverse Auction/ e-bidding.
8. Continuous vendor rating system.
9. User-friendly dashboard for buying and monitoring supplies and payments
10. Return policy
Some of the important GeM features are:-
1. Transparency-
GeM eliminates human interface in vendor registration, order placement, and payment processing, to a great extent. Being an open platform, GeM offers no entry barriers to bonafide suppliers who wish to do business with the Government. At every step, SMS and e-Mail notifications are sent to both buyers, his/her head of an organization, paying authorities as well as sellers.
2. Efficiency-
Direct purchase on GeM can be done in a matter of minutes and the entire process is online, end-to-end integrated and with online tools for assessing price reasonability. For procurements of higher value, the bidding/Reverse Auction (RA) facility on GeM is among the most transparent and efficient, in comparison to e-procurement systems in vogue within the Government sector
3. Secure and safe-
GeM is a completely secure platform and all the documents on GeM are e-Signed at various stages by the buyers and sellers.
The minimum and maximum number of delivery day(s) may vary, specific to the product and service category.
Certain Buyer organizations are eligible for a concession on GST if goods for which bids have been invited fall under the classification of GST concession and the conditions for eligibility of concession are met by the institution.
The Buyer would specify the concessional rate of GST while publishing the Bid. The concessional rate of GST, the relevant govt notification number, and the date would be mentioned in Bid Terms and conditions.
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