Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) emphatically denied some news reports on issuing of contracts by it without tendering. It stated that there are grave factual inaccuracies in these news story published in various newspapers on 20th Sept. 2015 sourcing IANS with titles like - “Aadhaar card projects of the UIDAI worth over Rs 13,000 crore were awarded without issuing tenders…”.
The news misrepresents facts and draws totally skewed and distorted interpretations of certain information provided under RTI Act. UIDAI said that these are totally false statements made with malafide intentions.
UIDAI had only incurred at total expenditure of Rs. 6,562.88 crore up to 31st July 2015 since its inception. The total approved outlay for the UIDAI project had been Rs.13,663.22 crore. UIDAI pays to the Registrars which are State governments, Public Sector Banks and Public Institutions, only a sum of Rs. 40/- (Rupees Forty only) for each Aadhaar number issued for enrolment done by their agencies. This payment is outcome based on successful generation of Aadhaar. UIDAI does not enter itself into any contract to engage any agency directly for enrolment. UIDAI only does the empanelment of the enrolment agencies. Hence, the question of issuing any tender by UIDAI for the same does not arise. It is the Registrars (State Governments, Public Sector Banks and Public Institutions) who enter into contracts with enrolment agencies through due process of law/tendering under their own state financial rules and financial procedures. Enrolment for Aadhaar is done through such agencies.
It may be noted that these Registrars are required to do open tendering for engaging Enrolment Agencies from those agencies who have been already empanelled by UIDAI through a Request for Empanelment (RFE) process. Alternatively, the Registrar may also choose any other agency found suitable as per their rules/procedures.
For all other works too, UIDAI always follows the prescribed procurement rules under General Financial Rules of the Government of India. The allegation that 25 companies have been given the contract without tendering is basically a miscomprehension and has been done with malafide intent. The UIDAI on its website has listed all contracts awarded with the tender documents. Therefore, to say that all the 25 companies were given the contract without tendering is incorrect.
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KSP/SS
(Release ID :127095)