Government e-marketplace, or GeM, has transformed the manner in which procuring is conducted in India so that businesses can easily come on board with government buyers. For someone to fully be able to take advantage of such a platform, the requirement to know the legal framework governing GeM registration must be met for businesses, vendors, and suppliers alike. Here is a full guide on GeM registration in India, its benefits, and the main legal considerations that accompany the process.
GeM registration is the process where businesses, sellers, and service providers undertake to get registered under the Government e-marketplace. GeM, designed under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is an electronic portal for permitting the procurement to different departments of the Government, public sector undertaking bodies, and other institutions that make the evident machinery powerful.
Key Players of GeM:
- Seller: Business houses manufacturers and suppliers of any products or services.
- Buyers: Government departments or organizations.
- Vendors: The intermediaries, which allow trade to be performed on the platform.
Eligibility to get registered depends upon the type of business, which is provision for MSMEs, Startups, and other larger companies.
GeM Legal Framework:
- Transparency: All of these transactions are followed for a corruption-free and inefficiency-free process.
- Accountability: The conditions of the terms and the sellers and buyers have to adhere to the same conditions on the platform.
- Compliance: The registered entities all comply with tax policies, labor laws, and quality assurance norms.
The legal platform is rather robust considering that all these general policies and guidelines by the government hold good to ensure Indian procurement. Among the key characteristics of its policy are these:
1. General Financial Rules 2017: These rules provide the procedure and principle governing each and every purchase made by the public authority. GeM is as per such rules for every purchase of the departments of the government to be done economically, transparently, and effectively.
2. Information Technology Act, 2000: GeM being an e-portal follows all the provisions of this act so that the online transaction is safe and data private.
3. Contract Act, 1872: All the contracts which are done through the help of the GeM portal fall under the purview of the Indian Contract Act which offers the terms and conditions attached to the liabilities of a buyer along with that of the seller.
4. CVC Guidelines: The guidelines of CVC are very strictly followed by GeM so that dealings are free from corruption, and proper ethical practices are followed during procurement.
These country-specific laws make sure that the platform is secure for the buyers as well as for sellers so that GeM turns out to be a sound and secure place for all government activities.
Policies Controlling GeM
Various policies govern the working of GeM, hence, it's an integrated and functioning procurement platform. Some of the particular policies are enlisted as follows:-
1. Order of Public Procurement, 2017:
As local products and manufacturing support are given while procuring goods from governments, local products are given consideration. The sellers whose 'Make in India' products are available, are favoured.
2. MSME Procurement Policy, 2012
The minimum number of procurements by the government organization is to be 25% from MSMEs, for which a mandate has already been issued by the government. GeM enables this because it allows MSMEs to give a showcase for all of its products on one single platform.
3. Initiative of Startup India: The relief for those registered in the Startup India program is specific with exemption from certain procurement norms making it very easy for them to get into business with the government under GeM.
4. Environmental Friendly Procurement Policies: To attain sustainability, GeM gives policies that encourage the concept of green purchases like energy consumer appliances and green technologies, etc.
5. Specific Guideline to Various Sectors : All departments of the government print out their policies regarding sectors and procurements. For example, Medical Equipment by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Digital Learning by the Ministry of Education.
All this adds up to making GeM in line with the larger governmental goals of the economy and environment.
Benefits of Registration on GeM for Commercial Businesses
Registration on GeM opens wide doors for businesses, including:
1. Broader Market Coverage:
- Huge Government Buyer Pool.
- Competitive Bidding opportunities.
2. Transparency:
- Automated Process: No Human Intervention.
- Tracking of orders and payments would be real-time.
3. Ease of Doing Business:
- Simplification in registration, listing, and transactions.
- Aadhaar, PAN, and GST integration will smoothen compliance.
4. Payments on Time:
- Invoices will get cleared in time.
- Escrow Account arrangements would ensure secure transactions.
5. Credibility and Scale:
- Listing in the Government portal is always more credible
- Scaling up the business through acceptance of government tenders
Important Legal Issues in the Case of Sellers
Though various benefits are there for sellers when they are using the GeM platform, they must be aware of the following issues as a seller:
1. Terms and Conditions: Terms of price, delivery time, and quality specifications have to be complied with according to GeM guidelines.
2. Quality assurance: Specifications of the products/Services have to be matched otherwise penalties and delisting are to be faced.
3. Tax and legal compliance:
- Easy compliance time of tax payments, eg. GST.
- Making proper bookkeeping that would enable the seller to comply better with the audits.
4. Dispute resolution: There is an official mechanism for resolving disputes between the buyers and the seller at GeM
5. Blacklisting: There can be very severe punishment, and such sellers would suffer blacklisting for non-compliance or a suspicious event.
Conclusion
The government has made registration on GeM special for business organizations to cope and deal with government buyers expanding into the marketplace. Being this lawful framework understanding will help remain compliant toward providing a smooth ride for the portal. More transparency and fewer processes make GeM an effective holistic ecosystem for the Government Procurement of India.
GeM is of great importance to businesses as it opens gates toward credibility, growth, and success. Register on GeM today to open the door to a thousand possibilities in government procurement.
