Palakkad division of Southern Railway has opted for e-auction, instead of e-tendering, for commercial contracts, including managing parcel service vans on select trains, managing parking area and Out-of-Home advertisement in major stations.
Advantages of e-auction include pan-India participation by registered bidders. Once registered in Indian Railways E-procurement System (IREPS), a bidder may participate in any of the e-auctions for commercial contracts across Indian Railways.
The eligibility criteria has been relaxed with no previous turnover need to be mentioned for contracts worth up to ₹40 lakh; ₹20 lakh turnover for contracts amounting to ₹1 crore, and ₹50 lakh turnover for contracts amounting to over ₹1 crore.
E-auction enables quick finalisation and the possibility of quick re-awarding of contract in case of some failure. It ensures transparency in finalising the contract as the transaction would have minimal human intervention. Contract could be signed within five days of the e-auction.
Parcel vans
E-auction would be conducted to lease out parcel vans of selected trains on July 18. They include Train No. 12620 Mangaluru Central – Lokmanya Tilak Matsyagandha Express; Train No. 12686 Mangaluru Central – Chennai Central Superfast Express; Train No. 12602 Mangaluru Central – MGR Chennai Central Mail; Train No. 16348 Mangaluru Central – Thiruvananthapuram Central Express; Train No. 16528 Kannur – Yesvantpur Express and Train No. 22609 Mangaluru Central – Coimbatore Junction Intercity-Express.
Out Of Home (OOH) commercial publicity contracts for Mangaluru Central, Kozhikode, Kannur, Tirur, Palakkad Junction and Pollachi station too would be awarded through e-auction on July 18.
Parking space at railway stations
Awarding of contracts for parking spaces at Palakkad Town, Vaniyambalam, Mahe, Payangadi, Kannapuram, Payyanur and Nileshwar railway station would be done through e-auction on July 16.
Intending bidders have to register for the e-auction on IREPS, which includes a one-time registration fees of ₹10,000 plus GST @18%. The participant needs to open a current account in SBI, and link the same to their IREPS profile.
For participation in auctions, lien marked amount is required in the current account for the Earnest Money Deposit.
For details, visit website if IREPS