The Rajasthan Transparency in Public Procurement Rules, 2013
CHAPTER VI
Code of Integrity
80. Code of integrity.- (1) All the officers or employees of the procuring entity
shall,-
(a) maintain an unimpeachable standard of integrity both inside and outside their
office;
(b) act in accordance with the provisions of the Act, these rules, guidelines issued
under the Act and instructions;
(c) not allow any bidders to have access to information on a particular procurement,
before such information is available to the public at large;
(d) not intentionally use unnecessarily restrictive or “tailored” specifications, terms of
reference or statements of work that can discourage competition;
(e) not solicit or accept any bribe, reward or gift or any material benefit of any
directly or indirectly promise of future employment from anyone, who has sought or is
seeking procurement from the procuring entity;
(f) not have a financial interest in any bidder(s) responding to a procuring entity’s
bidding process and any person having financial interest in any bidder shall not participate in
that procurement process;
(g) not disclose proprietary and source selection information, directly or indirectly, to
any person other than a person authorised to receive such information;
(h) treat all bidders in a fair and equitable manner in line with the principle of
fairness, integrity and transparency in the procurement process;
(i) provide all bidders identical information at the same time, during the bidding
process;
(j) apply the same criteria of evaluation as specified in the bidding documents, bidder
registration documents or pre-qualification documents and under no circumstances new
evaluation criteria shall be introduced during the evaluation process;
(k) not entertain any favour, recreation, presents, services, etc. from the bidders or
prospective bidders;
(l) protect the interests of the procuring entity under all circumstances while dealing
with information and information sources;
(m) maintain confidentially of all bids;
(n) ensure that the selection of bidder is as per the bidding documents and is not
influenced by personal reasons attributable to concerned officials in any manner; and
(o) disclose conflict of interest, if any.
(2) Any person participating in procurement process shall,-
51
The Rajasthan Transparency in Public Procurement Rules, 2013
(a) not offer any bribe, reward or gift or any material benefit either directly or
indirectly in exchange for an unfair advantage in procurement process or to otherwise
influence the procurement process;
(b) not misrepresent or omit information that misleads or attempts to mislead so as to
obtain a financial or other benefit or avoid an obligation;
(c) not indulge in any collusion, bid rigging or anticompetitive behaviour to impair the
transparency, fairness and progress of the procurement process;
(d) not misuse any information shared between the procuring entity and the bidders
with an intent to gain unfair advantage in the procurement process;
(e) not indulge in any coercion including impairing or harming or threatening to do
the same, directly or indirectly, to any party or to its property to influence the procurement
process;
(f) not obstruct any investigation or audit of a procurement process;
(g) disclose conflict of interest, if any; and
(h) disclose any previous transgressions with any entity in India or any other country
during the last three years or any debarment by any other procuring entity.
81. Conflict of interest.- (1) A conflict of interest for procuring entity or its personnel
and bidders is considered to be a situation in which a party has interests that could improperly
influence that party’s performance of official duties or responsibilities, contractual
obligations, or compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
(2) The situations in which a procuring entity or its personnel may be considered to be
in conflict of interest includes, but not limited to, following:-
(a) A conflict of interest occurs when procuring entity’s personnel’s private interests,
such as outside professional or other relationships or personal financial assets, interfere or
appear to interfere with the proper performance of its professional functions or obligations as
a procurement official.
(b) Within the procurement environment, a conflict of interest may arise in connection
with such private interests as personal investments and assets, political or other outside
activities and affiliations while in the service of the procuring entity, employment after
retirement from the procuring entity’s service or the receipt of a gift that may place the
procuring entity’s personnel in a position of obligation.
(c) A conflict of interest also includes the use of procuring entity’s assets, including
human, financial and material assets, or the use of procuring entity’s office or knowledge
gained from official functions for private gain or to prejudice the position of someone
procuring entity’s personnel does not favour.
(d) A conflict of interest may also arise in situations where procuring entity’s
personnel is seen to benefit, directly or indirectly, or allow a third party, including family,
friends or someone they favour, to benefit from procuring entity’s personnel’s actions or
decisions.
(3) A Bidder may be considered to be in conflict of interest with one or more parties
in a bidding process if, including but not limited to:-
(a) they have controlling partners in common;
52