DIPAK NATH Vs. OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORPORATION LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Informant is stated to be a registered partnership firm, engaged in the business of civil and transport contractor. The Informant is also a registered vendor of ONGC for supplying various kinds of cranes to ONGC on hire. As per the information given to the Commission u/s. 19(1)(a) of the Competition Act, 2002, OP was hiring the services of the various kinds of cranes of the Informant since 2000 through the process of tenders. During the month of December, 2012, OP issued a notice inviting bids under two bids system from domestic bidders for hiring of 174 nos. of hydraulic cranes for the onshore deployment at various work centers of OP within the country for a period of 3 years. For North Eastern Sector, which included Assam, Tripura and West Bengal, bids were invited for 71 cranes [Jorhat/Sivasagar/Silchar, (Assam) - 56, Agartala (Tripura) - 6 & Kolkata/Bokaro (W.B.) -7].

(2.) THE Informant submitted that he was engaged in the North Eastern Sector and had been providing services to OP in the past. However the OP prescribed an eligibility criteria in the bid tender of December, 2012 that a bidder must own minimum 4 nos. of cranes and submit his bids for minimum of 7 nos. of cranes for the same sector (Agartala/Kolkata/Bokaro). The bidders were free to submit bids for one or more sectors. The Informant was aggrieved with the aforesaid condition and had also shown his resentment at the pre -bid conference and asked the OP for equalizing eligibility criteria for all sectors and requested to modify the criteria to owning of three cranes and offering of minimum three cranes.

(3.) THE Commission considered the matter and heard the counsel for the informant at length.