View
2
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP)
for
Integrated Railways Helpline & Enquiry System
(IRHES) -139
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline & Enquiry System -139
Page 2 of 191
Table of Content
1 Section I: Invitation to Bidder .................................................................................................... 10
2 Section II: Instruction to Bidders ............................................................................................... 14
2.1 Nature of Project .............................................................................................................. 14
2.2 Nature of Tender .............................................................................................................. 14
2.3 Contents of the RFP ......................................................................................................... 14
2.4 Cost of Bidding Process ................................................................................................... 14
2.5 Clarification on RFP Document ......................................................................................... 15
2.6 Amendment of RFP Document ......................................................................................... 16
2.7 Language of Bids ............................................................................................................. 16
2.8 Procedure for Submission of Bids ..................................................................................... 16
2.9 Documents Comprising the Bids ....................................................................................... 18
2.10 Bid Prices ......................................................................................................................... 19
2.11 Firm Prices ....................................................................................................................... 19
2.12 Discount ........................................................................................................................... 19
2.13 Bidder Qualification .......................................................................................................... 19
2.14 Period of Validity of Bids ................................................................................................... 20
2.15 Terms and Conditions of Bidder ....................................................................................... 20
2.16 Local Conditions ............................................................................................................... 20
2.17 Last Date for Receipt of Bids ............................................................................................ 21
2.18 Modification and Withdrawal of Bids ................................................................................. 21
2.19 Contacting IRCTC ............................................................................................................ 21
2.20 Participation of Joint Venture (JV): This Clause shall be applicable for tenders wherein
tender (RFP) documents specifically permit for the same. ............................................................ 21
2.23 Criteria for Evaluation of Bids ........................................................................................... 26
2.24 Evaluation Process........................................................................................................... 26
2.25 Prequalification Evaluation Criteria ................................................................................... 29
2.26 Technical Evaluation Criteria ............................................................................................ 35
2.27 Financial Evaluation Criteria ............................................................................................. 43
2.28 Post Qualification and Award Criteria................................................................................ 44
2.29 Purchaser's Right to Accept Any Bid and to Reject Any or All Bids .................................... 44
2.30 Notification of Award ........................................................................................................ 44
2.31 Security Deposit ............................................................................................................... 44
2.32 Signing of Contract ........................................................................................................... 44
2.33 Rejection Criteria .............................................................................................................. 45
3 Section III: General Conditions of the Contract (GCC) .............................................................. 53
3.1 Definitions and Interpretations .......................................................................................... 53
3.2 Authorized Signatory and address of the contractor .......................................................... 55
3.3 Qualification Criteria of Tenderer ...................................................................................... 55
3.4 JV bidders ........................................................................................................................ 55
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline & Enquiry System -139
Page 3 of 191
3.5 Earnest Money Deposit .................................................................................................... 56
3.6 Completion of Tender Documents .................................................................................... 56
3.7 Amendments to Bid Invitation ........................................................................................... 56
3.8 Clarifications, Omissions and Discrepancies in Tender Document .................................... 56
3.9 Process to Be Confidential ............................................................................................... 57
3.10 Technical Clarifications ..................................................................................................... 57
3.11 Validity ............................................................................................................................. 57
3.12 Right of Acceptance ......................................................................................................... 57
3.13 Indemnities and Liabilities................................................................................................. 57
3.14 Insurance ......................................................................................................................... 58
3.15 Local Conditions ............................................................................................................... 58
3.16 Prices ............................................................................................................................... 58
3.17 Price Fall .......................................................................................................................... 58
3.18 Acceptance of Purchase Order ......................................................................................... 59
3.19 Delivery ............................................................................................................................ 59
3.20 Liquidated Damages for Delay in Delivery ........................................................................ 59
3.21 Information Ownership ..................................................................................................... 59
3.22 General Requirements ..................................................................................................... 59
3.23 Security Deposit (PBG) .................................................................................................... 60
3.24 Warranty .......................................................................................................................... 61
3.25 Income-Tax ...................................................................................................................... 61
3.26 Intentionally Kept Blank .................................................................................................... 61
3.27 Settlement of Disputes/Arbitration and Jurisdiction ........................................................... 61
3.28 Force Majeure .................................................................................................................. 62
3.29 Evaluation of Offers .......................................................................................................... 63
3.30 Integrity Pact .................................................................................................................... 63
3.31 Management Phase ......................................................................................................... 63
3.32 Audit, Access and Reporting ............................................................................................ 64
3.33 Assignment ...................................................................................................................... 65
3.34 Illegal Gratification ............................................................................................................ 65
4 Special Conditions of the Contract (SCC) ................................................................................. 66
4.1 General ............................................................................................................................ 66
4.2 Term and Duration of the agreement ................................................................................ 66
4.3 Payment Terms ................................................................................................................ 66
4.4 Conditions Governing the Performance of the Contract..................................................... 69
4.5 Taxes and Other Statutory Dues....................................................................................... 69
4.6 Non-Disclosure Agreement ............................................................................................... 69
4.7 Lock-In Period .................................................................................................................. 69
4.8 Termination by either Party ............................................................................................... 69
4.9 Termination of Contract .................................................................................................... 70
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline & Enquiry System -139
Page 4 of 191
4.10 Intentionally Kept Blank .................................................................................................... 71
4.11 Corrupt Practices ............................................................................................................. 71
4.12 Breach of Contract ........................................................................................................... 71
4.13 Intellectual Property .......................................................................................................... 72
4.14 Compliance of Laws ......................................................................................................... 72
4.15 Data/ Database ................................................................................................................ 72
4.16 Assignment ...................................................................................................................... 72
4.17 No Agency ....................................................................................................................... 72
4.18 Jurisdiction of Court .......................................................................................................... 72
4.19 Conflict of Interest ............................................................................................................ 73
4.20 Access to the IRCTC or Its Nominated Agencies Locations .............................................. 73
4.21 Conditions and Precedent Effective Date .......................................................................... 74
4.22 Obligations under SLA...................................................................................................... 75
SCHEDULE I: Change Control Schedule ......................................................................................... 77
SCHEDULE II: Exit Management Schedule ..................................................................................... 80
SCHEDULE: III Audit, Access and Reporting ................................................................................... 84
SCHEDULE: IV Governance Schedule ............................................................................................ 87
SCHEDULE-V: Service Level Agreement ....................................................................................... 89
5 Section IV: Bid Submission Formats and Service Level Agreement (SLA) .............................. 100
5.1 Bidder’s Self Information ................................................................................................ 100
5.2 Prime/Lead Bidder and Joint Venture (JV) detail ............................................................. 101
5.3 Undertaking that Bidder is not Blacklisted/Insolvency ...................................................... 105
5.4 Response to Eligibility and Evaluation Criteria (Refer Clause 2.25 & 2.26 of Section-II-
Instructions to Bidders) .............................................................................................................. 106
5.5 Project Details ................................................................................................................ 107
5.6 Manpower Details........................................................................................................... 108
5.7 CV Format...................................................................................................................... 109
5.8 Technical Bid Submission Letter ..................................................................................... 111
5.9 Manufacturer’s Authorization Form ................................................................................. 115
5.10 Overview of Proposed Solution ....................................................................................... 117
5.11 Intentionally Kept Blank .................................................................................................. 119
5.12 Performa for EMD .......................................................................................................... 119
5.14 Pre-Bid Query Format .................................................................................................... 123
5.15 Proforma for Statement of Deviations from Tender Conditions ........................................ 124
5.16 Intentionally Kept Blank .................................................................................................. 125
5.17 Pre-Contract Integrity Pact ............................................................................................. 125
5.18 Performa of Security Deposit .......................................................................................... 130
5.19 Financial Bid Letter (Packet-B of Bid) ............................................................................. 132
5.20 Security Requirements ................................................................................................... 133
5.21 Financial Information of the Bidder ................................................................................. 151
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline & Enquiry System -139
Page 5 of 191
6 Section V: Scope of Work ...................................................................................................... 154
6.14 About the Document ....................................................................................................... 154
6.15 Project Background ........................................................................................................ 154
6.16 General Requirements ................................................................................................... 164
6.17 Detailed Requirements ................................................................................................... 171
6.17.7 Implementation Requirements .................................................................................... 193
6.18 Project implementation Schedule.................................................................................... 203
6.19 Minimum Resource Requirements .................................................................................. 205
6.20 Annexure A: Monthly Calls on 139 from July 2007 to Mar 2021 ....................................... 209
6.21 Annexure B: Monthly SMS on 139 from July 2007 to March 2021 ................................... 211
6.22 Annexure C: Call Volumetric as per language ................................................................. 212
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline & Enquiry System -139
Page 6 of 191
GLOSSARY
Abbreviation Description
ACD AUTOMATIC CALL DISTRIBUTION
AI ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AMC ANNUAL MAINTENANCE CONTRACT
ASR AUTOMATIC SPEECH RECOGNITION
BPO BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING
BSNL BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED
COMS COMPLAINT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
CRIS CENTRE FOR RAILWAY INFORMATION SYSTEMS
CRM CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
CTI COMPUTER TELEPHONY INTEGRATION
DC DATA CENTRE
DNIS DIALED NUMBER IDENTIFICATION SERVICE
DOT DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATION
DR DISASTER RECOVERY
EMD EARNEST MONEY DEPOSIT
FAQ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
GUI GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE
IoT INTERNET OF THINGS
IRCTC INDIAN RAILWAY CATERING AND TOURISM CORPORATION
IRHES INTEGRATED RAILWAY HELPLINE AND ENQUIRY SYSTEM
ISDN-PRI INTEGRATED SERVICES DIGITAL NETWORK PRIMARY RATE INTERFACE
IT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
IVRS INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE SYSTEM
MeitY MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
ML MACHINE LEARNING
NLP NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING
NTES NATIONAL TRAIN ENQUIRY SYSTEM
SD SECURITY DEPOSIT
PBX PRIVATE BRANCH EXCHANGE
PPP PUBLIC PRIVATE PRATNERSHIP
PRI PRIMARY RATE INTERFACE
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline & Enquiry System -139
Page 7 of 191
Abbreviation Description
PRS PASSENGER RESERVATION SYSTEM
PSTN PUBLIC SWITCHED TELEPHONE NETWORK
RCC REGIONAL CALL CENTRE
REA RAILWAY ENQUIRY APPLICATION
RECCN RAIL ENQUIRY CALL CENTRE NETWORK
REF RAIL ENQUIRY FRANCHISEE
SMS SHORT MESSAGING SERVICE
SLA SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT
STD SUBSCRIBER TRUNK DIALLING
TRAI TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA
TTS TEXT TO SPEECH
UAN UNIVERSAL ACCESS NUMBER
VAS VALUE ADDED SERVICE
WLL WIRELESS IN LOCAL LOOP
DISCLAIMER
a. Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd., herein after mentioned as “IRCTC” does not make any representation or warranty as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline & Enquiry System -139
Page 8 of 191
information in this Bid Document. Therefore, each Bidder should conduct their own investigations and analysis and check the accuracy, reliability and completeness of the information in this Bid Document and obtain independent advice from appropriate sources. The Bidder shall bear all its costs associated with the preparation and submission of its Bid including expenses associated with any clarifications which may be required by IRCTC or any other costs incurred in connection with or relating to its Bid. All such costs and expenses will remain with the Bidder, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the bidding process and IRCTC shall not be liable in any manner.
b. IRCTC will have no liability to any Bidder or any other person under the law of contract, tort, the principles of restitution or unjust enrichment or otherwise for any loss, expense or damage which may arise from or be incurred or suffered in connection with anything contained in this Bid Document, any matter deemed to form part of this Bid Document, the award of the contract/License, the information and any other information supplied by or on behalf of Railway/IRCTC or otherwise arising in any way from the selection process of the bidder.
c. The issue of this Document does not imply that IRCTC is bound to select the Bidder or to appoint the Selected Bidder. IRCTC reserves the right to reject any or all of the Bids submitted in response to this Bid Document at any stage without assigning any reason whatsoever. IRCTC also reserves the right to withhold or withdraw the process at any stage.
d. The information contained in this Bid document or subsequently provided to the Bidder(s), whether verbally or in documentary form by or on behalf of the IRCTC or any of their employees or advisor, is provided to the Bidder(s) on the terms and conditions set out in this Bid Document or any other terms and conditions subject to which information is provided.
e. This request for Bid submission is not an agreement and is neither an offer nor invitation by
IRCTC to the prospective bidders or any other person. The purpose of this RFP is to provide
interested parties with information that may be useful to them in making their financial offers
(Bids) pursuant to this RFP. This RFP includes statements, which reflects various assumptions
and assessments arrived at by the IRCTC in relation to the Project. Such assumptions,
assessments do not purport to contain all the information that each Bidder may require. This RFP
may not be appropriate for all the persons, and it is not possible for the IRCTC, its employees or
consultants to consider the investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs of each
party who reads or uses this RFP.
f. IRCTC reserves the right to change/ modify/amend any or all of the provisions of this Bid Document at any stage.
g. Each Bidder’s acceptance of delivery of this Tender constitutes its agreement to, and acceptance of the terms set forth in this Disclaimer. By acceptance of this Tender, the recipient agrees that this Tender and any information herewith supersedes document(s) or earlier information, if any, in relation to the subject matter hereof.
Section I: Invitation to bidders
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline & Enquiry System -139
Page 10 of 191
1 Section I: Invitation to Bidder
Invitation to Bid
Tender Notice No: 2021/IRCTC/SERVICES/IRHES/139
Date: 03.12, 2021
From:
GGM/Services
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC),
Punj House, M-13, Connaught Place
New Delhi- 110001.
To:
All Prospective bidders
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), invites responses (“Proposals”/
“Bids”) to this Request for Proposal (Tender) from eligible organizations, who meet the minimum
eligibility criteria, as specified in this bidding document for “Selection of Managed Service Partner
(MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139”.
1. A bidder will be selected based on the Pre-Qualification, Technical and Financial evaluation
criteria and procedures, described in this tender.
2. Bidder is advised to study this tender document carefully, before submitting their proposals, in
response to the tender Notice. Submission of a proposal in response to this notice shall be
deemed to have been done after careful study and examination of this document with full
understanding of its terms, conditions and implications.
3. The time, date and venue details related to the pre-bid conference and proposal submission
are mentioned in the Key Events and Dates Sheet. Proposals that are received after the
deadline will not be considered in this procurement process.
4. To obtain first-hand information on the assignment, bidders are encouraged to attend the pre-
bid meeting. However, attending the pre-bid meeting is optional.
Thanks & Regards,
Group General Manager /Services,
IRCTC
1. This RFP document is not transferable.
1.1 Participation by Joint Venture is permitted.
2. Contact Details
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline & Enquiry System -139
Page 11 of 191
Name of the client & RFP
Issuing Authority Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)
Name of the RFP Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated
Railways Helpline System -139
Contact person Group General Manager /Services,
Contact Address IRCTC Office, Punj House, M-13, Connaught Place, New
Delhi-110001
Contact Number 011-23311263-64 Extn.730
Contact e-mail ID ggmservices@irctc.com
3. Important Dates
(a) Date of Start of issue of RFP / Publication of RFP in
e-Procurement Portal
03.12.2021
(b) Document download start date 04.12.2021
(c) Seek clarification Start Date 06.12. 2021
(d) Last date to submit pre-bid queries 15.12.2021
(e) Date and time of Online (VC) 1ST pre-bid meeting
Online meeting link will be made available on
www.irctc.com/ActiveTender
20.12. 2021@1230 Hrs
(f) Date and time of Online (VC) 2nd pre-bid meeting
Online meeting link will be made available on
www.irctc.com/ActiveTender
06.01. 2022@1230 Hrs
(f) Last date & time for submission of RFP response 24.01. 2022 upto 1500 Hrs
(g) Date & time of opening of Pre-qualification &
Technical bids (Packet-A)
24.01. 2022 upto 1530 Hrs
(h) Date of Financial Bid opening (Packet-B) To be intimated later
(k) Bid validity 180 days from the bid
submission due date
4. RFP Data sheet
SNo.
Information
Details
1. Availability of RFP documents
Tender Document may be downloaded from https/ www.tenderwizard.com/irctc & www.irctc.com/ActiveTender Portal 2.
Non-Refundable Tender Cost
Not Applicable
3. Language Proposals should be submitted in English only
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline & Enquiry System -139
Page 12 of 191
SNo.
Information
Details
4.
Earnest Money Deposit
All bidders are exempted from submission of EMD, except those disqualified from such exemption by IRCTC/PSUs/other Govt bodies. However in this regard “Bidder is required to submit as "Bid Securing Declaration" in place of EMD.
5. Method of Selection
The bidder must qualify the pre-qualification criteria. The Bidder shall be shortlisted based on Prequalify Criteria & Technical evaluation (Please refer section II for details). Financial proposal of shortlisted bidders will be opened, and bidder shall be selected on Lowest cost basis ( H1 or L1)
6. Signing of Contract with IRCTC
Within 30 days after Declaration of result and submission of Performance Security Deposit.
7. Agreement Period Implementation period of 3 months, followed by 5 Years of Operations and Maintenance
8. Required Proposals
Technical Bid along with Pre-Qualification Bid (e-bid packet A) AND Financial Bid (e-bid packet-B)
I. Bidders must note bids received after due date and time shall be rejected. Purchaser
would not be responsible for any delay in submission of bids. Bids sent through email/
fax/post or otherwise in physical form shall not be accepted.
II. This Tender Document can only be submitted/ received online at
http://www.tenderwizard.com/IRCTC.
III. To participate in the e-Tender, it is mandatory for the bidders to register themselves with
M/s ITI. A detailed procedure for bidding is placed at www.tenderwizard.com/IRCTC.
IV. The applicant should also upload complete set of documents in support of Eligibility
Criteria as mentioned in the tender document, duly digitally signed by authorized signatory.
V. For any difficulty in downloading & submission of tender document on website
www.tenderwizard.com/IRCTC, please contact at tenderwizard.com helpdesk no. 011-
49424365 or cell no. 09599653865
VI. The Special Terms of Contract (SCC) as laid down in this document override the terms
laid down in GCC. All terms and conditions not specifically mentioned in SCC shall be laid
down/applicable as in the GCC.
Page 13 of 191
Section II: Instruction to bidders
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 14 of 191
2 Section II: Instruction to Bidders
2.1 Nature of Project
2.1.1 This tender Document is to seek proposals from leading Managed Service Partners (‘MSPs’)
or Call Centre Service Providers (CCSPs) or suitably qualified and experienced Bidders i.e.,
Proprietorship or partnership firm/company/joint ventures (hereafter referred as ‘Bidders’) for
Design, Development, Implementation and Maintenance of the Integrated Railways Helpline &
Enquiry System-139 (‘Services’).
2.2 Nature of Tender
2.2.1 E-Open Bids are invited by IRCTC for Design, Development, Implementation and
Maintenance of the Integrated Railways Helpline & Enquiry System-139 which includes the
following four components:
I. Contact Centre for IRHES 139
II. Cloud Service Provision
III. Operations and Maintenance of IRHES 139
IV. Capacity Building and Training
The details about the Scope of Work are mentioned in section V “Scope of work” of RFP.
2.3 Contents of the RFP
2.3.1 The scope of work tender procedure and contract terms are prescribed in the RFP document.
The RFP document includes:
Section Content
Section I Invitation to Bidders
Section II Instructions to Bidders
Section III General Conditions of Contract
Section IV Bid Submission Formats and SLA
Section V Scope of Work
2.4 Cost of Bidding Process
2.4.1 The Bidder shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of its bid,
including cost of presentations etc. for the purposes of clarification of the bid, if so desired by
IRCTC.
2.5 Clarification on RFP Document
2.5.1 A prospective Bidder requiring any clarification on the RFP Document may submit the queries
as per schedule indicated in Section I. The queries must be submitted in the following format
in editable form (Excel format) through email to ggmservices@irctc.com:
Bidder’s Request for Clarification
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 15 of 191
Name and Address of the
Organization submitting request
Name and Position of Person
submitting request
Contact Details of the
Organization or Authorized
Representative
Tel:
Fax:
Email:
S. No
RFP Reference
Content of RFP requiring
clarification Points of clarification required
Section Page
No.
Clause
No.
2.5.2 IRCTC will respond, to any request for clarification to queries on the RFP Document, received not later than the date prescribed by IRCTC in Section I of this RFP document.
2.5.3 IRCTC reserves the right to accept / not to accept requests of changes in specification/ clauses of tender through Corrigendum or addendum regarding this Tender. If needed after pre-bid meeting, Corrigendum/Addendum may only be published/uploaded on the tender wizard portal and IRCTC website www.irctc.com. IRCTC reserves the right not to respond to queries raised during /prior/ after pre-bid meeting. The queries which are considered by IRCTC will be incorporated in corrigendum and made part of tender.
2.5.4 Pre-bid Queries
2.5.5 A Pre-bid meeting will be organized as per the date and time provided in Section I to answer
the queries, if raised by the bidders.
2.5.6 Queries may be posted by all prospective bidders on the tender document to clarify any
doubts or concerns. The bidders must submit their queries in writing through email by the date
indicated in section I of this document.
2.5.7 All clarifications/questions must reference the appropriate Tender page and section number.
Bidders must enquire in writing with respect to any ambiguity, conflict, discrepancy,
exclusionary specification, omission or other error in this Tender prior to submitting the
proposal. If a Bidder fails to notify IRCTC of any error, ambiguity, conflict, discrepancy,
exclusionary specification or omission, the Bidder shall submit the proposal at its own risk
and, if awarded the contract, shall have waived any claim that the Tender and contract were
ambiguous and shall not contest IRCTC’s interpretation. If no error or ambiguity is reported by
the deadline for submitting written questions, the Bidder shall not be entitled to additional
compensation, relief or time by reason of the error or its later correction.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 16 of 191
2.6 Amendment of RFP Document
2.6.1 At any time prior to the deadline for submission of Bids, IRCTC may, for any reason, whether
at its own initiative or in response to a clarification requested by a prospective bidder, modify
the Bid document by amendments. Such amendments shall be uploaded on the websites
https://www.irctc.com/Activetenders and http://www.tenderwizard.com/IRCTC through
corrigendum/addedum and shall form an integral part of Bid document. The relevant clauses
of the Bid document shall be treated as amended accordingly.
2.6.2 It shall be the sole responsibility of the prospective bidders to check the IRCTC website
http://www.tenderwizard.com/IRCTC from time to time for any amendment in this RFP. In
case of failure to get the amendments, if any, IRCTC shall not be responsible for it.
2.6.3 To allow prospective Bidders a reasonable time to take the amendment into account in
preparing their Bids, IRCTC, at its discretion, may extend the deadline for the submission of
Bids. Such extensions shall be uploaded on websites http://www.tenderwizard.com/IRCTC
and https://www.irctc.com/Activetenders
2.7 Language of Bids
2.7.1 The Bids prepared by the Bidder and all correspondence and documents relating to the bids
exchanged by the Bidder and IRCTC, shall be written in English language, provided that any
printed literature furnished by the Bidder may be written in another language so long the same
is accompanied by a duly certified English translation in which case, for purposes of
interpretation of the bid, the English translation shall govern.
2.8 Procedure for Submission of Bids
The bidders are required to submit soft copies of their bids electronically on the tenderwizard
portal online duly digitally signed. The last date and time of submission of bids shall be as per
Data Sheet in Section I of the RFP. Online submission is mandatory form of submission for
the bidder, no offline/ physical form submissions will be accepted. Submission of Bids should
be done online through E-Tender process as mentioned below:
2.8.1 The entire process of evaluation of the offers shall be in two stage i.e.
i. Packet A/Part A- Pre-Qualification Bid & Technical Bid
and
ii. Financial Bid- Part B.
2.8.2 Complete tender document, including all Annexure, with supporting documents, Technical
Bid- Part A shall be uploaded online under Technical Bid option. The documents uploaded
should be properly printed scanned and should be clearly legible.
2.8.3 The Financial Bid- Part B, shall also be only be submitted online under Financial Bid option as
per available excel format (with no change in format).
2.8.4 Do not upload financial bid/Price indication under Technical bid option. The Techno-
commercial Bid/Un-priced Bid shall contain only the technical and commercial details except
the prices. No price shall be provided in the Technical-commercial Bid/Un-Priced Bid (Part A),
otherwise the offer shall be rejected.
2.8.5 IRCTC reserves the right to terminate the bidding process at any stage and will not be
responsible for any loss or damages that the bidder may incur in the process. The Bids can
be rejected without assigning any reason. The bidding process is completed with the issue of
letter of award to the successful bidder by IRCTC.
2.8.6 Conditional /Telegraphic Bids /Physical Bids shall not be entertained. Photocopy/reproduction
on party’s letterhead is not permissible. Bids submission process will be end as per
prescribed schedule after due date and time for submission of tender.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 17 of 191
2.8.7 The bidders may anytime withdraw their bids till the last date and time of submission;
however, the bidder shall not able to re-submit the bid thereafter. In case of withdrawal of bid
the tender processing charges, if any shall not be refunded.
2.8.8 If Bidder or any of its partner/s or sister concern, who have been debarred by
IRCTC/Railways/PSUs/Other Govt Department, then Bidder shall also be debarred from
participating in the future projects of IRCTC/Railway/PSUs/Other Govt Department and shall
not be eligible to participate in any tender, during the period of such debarment.
2.8.9 No overwriting/cutting/insertion in the Bid document is allowed. The Bids once submitted
would be binding on the Party and any subsequent alteration/amendment will not be
entertained. However, IRCTC may call for additional documents from bidders.
2.8.10 IRCTC may terminate the contract, if it is found that the bidder is wilful defaulter of
bank/financial institution or blacklisted by any of the Government Departments/ Institutions /
Local Bodies / Municipalities / Public Sector Undertaking etc.
2.8.11 IRCTC reserves the right to reject any / all bids including the highest bid/lowest bid or
withdraw the tender at any stage without assigning any reasons. Nothing contained herein
shall confer right upon a bidder or any obligation upon IRCTC.
2.8.12 It would be desirable that prior to the submission of bid, the bidder has made a complete and
careful examination of the requirements and other information set forth in this bid document.
2.8.13 Preparation of Bids
2.8.13.1 Bidder shall consider any corrigendum published on the tender document before
submitting their bids.
2.8.13.2 Please go through the tender advertisement and the tender document carefully to
understand the documents required to be submitted as part of the bid.
2.8.13.3 Any deficiency in the documentation may result in the rejection of the Bid.
2.8.13.4 Bidder, in advance, should get ready the bid documents to be submitted as indicated in the
tender document / schedule and generally, they can be in PDF / XLS / RAR / DWF
formats. Bid documents may be scanned with 100 dpi with black and white option.
2.9 Documents Comprising the Bids
The bid prepared by the Bidder shall be in two packets and comprise of the following
components:
2.9.1 Packet A: Pre-Qualification Bid and Technical Bid
2.9.1.1 All the details/relevant documentary evidences as per Technical Criteria mentioned in
section 2.25 & 2.26 with duly digitally by the authorized signatory of the applicant.
2.9.1.2 Bid Securing Declaration Performa inplace of Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to be
uploaded duly signed by authorised signatory & stamped on bidder’s company letter head
online as mentioned in Section 1 of the tender.
2.9.1.3 The offer form (marked as Prequalification & Technical Bid – Part A), only submitted
digitally signed.
2.9.1.4 The Bidders are required to submit the Bids completed in all respect in terms of the
instructions specified in the Tender Document along with all Annexure and supporting
documents before the specified Bid Due date.
2.9.1.5 The Bidders should satisfy the eligibility criteria mentioned in the Tender Document and
submit including the Tender Document.
2.9.1.6 Here the undertaking refers to letterhead of the Bidder directly or of its or indirectly through
its parent entity wherever applicable.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 18 of 191
2.9.1.7 Bidder needs to include all requirements as per the Clause 5.22 of Section IV, Checklist of
Technical Proposal Response.
2.9.2 Packet B: Financial Bid
Documents to be submitted online by the Bidders with the Financial bid.
2.9.2.1 The financial bid will be called as per call transaction cost for five years.
2.9.2.2 The financial bid is having two different bid options. In which,
If bidder feels that IRHES- 139 project is financially viable enough to pay per call fee to
IRCTC, then bidder will quote negative per call rate
OR
If bid value is in positive numbers, then IRCTC will pay per call fee to the Bidder during the
project.
2.10 Bid Prices
2.10.1 The Bidder shall indicate in the Performa prescribed at Clause 5.21 of Section IV of this RFP,
the unit rates of the services, it proposes to provide under the Contract.
2.10.2 In the absence of information as requested above, a bid shall be considered incomplete and
summarily rejected.
2.10.3 The Bidder shall prepare the bid based on details provided in the RFP documents. The Bidder
shall carry out all the tasks in accordance with the requirement of the RFP documents and it
shall be the responsibility of the Bidder to fully meet all the requirements of the RFP
documents.
2.10.4 The Bidder as part of its Financial Bid should account for all charges, levies and other
expenses that the Bidder shall incur during the contract period. GST will be extra over &
above the quoted prices.
2.11 Firm Prices
2.11.1 Prices quoted must be firm and final and shall remain constant throughout the period of the
contract and shall not be subject to any upward modifications, on any account whatsoever.
The Bidder shall, therefore, indicate the prices in Clause 5.21 of Section IV of this RFP. The
Bid Prices shall be indicated in Indian Rupees (INR) only.
2.11.2 The Financial Bid should clearly indicate the price to be charged/to pay without any
qualifications whatsoever and should include all expenses, duties, fees, levies, works contract
tax and other charges as may be applicable in relation to the activities proposed to be carried
out.
2.11.3 A financial bid submitted with an adjustable price quotation or conditional bid shall be treated
as non-responsive and the bid shall be rejected summarily.
2.12 Discount
2.12.1 The Bidder is advised not to indicate any separate discount. Discount, if any, should be
merged with the quoted prices. Discount of any type, indicated separately, will not be
considered for evaluation purpose.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 19 of 191
2.13 Bidder Qualification
2.13.1 The “Bidder” as used in the RFP documents shall mean the organization on whose behalf the
RFP response has been submitted. The Bidder may be either the Principal Officer (MD/
Company Secretary) or his/her duly Authorized Representative, in which case he/she shall
submit a power of attorney. All certificates and documents (including any clarifications sought
and any subsequent correspondences) received hereby, shall be furnished and signed by the
representative or the principal.
2.13.2 It is further clarified that the individual signing the RFP or other documents in connection with
the RFP must certify whether he/she signs as:
1. Constituted attorney of the Company, if it is a company
OR
2. The principal officer or his/her duly assigned authorized representative of the bidder, in
which case he/she shall submit a certificate of authority on behalf of the bidder.
3. Lead member of Joint Venture
2.13.3 The authorization shall be indicated by power-of-attorney accompanying the bid.
2.14 Period of Validity of Bids
2.14.1 Bids shall remain valid for a period of as mentioned in Section 1 of this RFP. A bid valid for a
shorter period shall be rejected by IRCTC as non-responsive and shall not be taken up for
evaluation purposes.
2.14.2 IRCTC may request the Bidder(s) for an extension of the period of validity. The request and
the responses thereto shall be made in writing (or by fax or by e-mail).
2.15 Terms and Conditions of Bidder
2.15.1 Terms and conditions (General Conditions) of the Bidder will not be considered as forming
part of their Bids. In case terms and conditions of the contract applicable to this Invitation of
RFP are not acceptable to any Bidder, he or she should clearly specify deviation in his or her
Technical Bid. Similarly, in case the Services being offered have deviations from the
requirements or specifications laid down in this RFP, the Bidder shall describe in what
respects and to what extent the Services being offered differ or deviate from the
requirements, even though the deviations may not be very material. The Bidder must state
categorically whether his offer conforms to RFP requirements or specifications and indicate
deviations, if any, in his Technical Bid (Clause 5.15 of Section 4) of this RFP)
2.15.2 Any deviations or assumptions mentioned elsewhere in the Bid, other than the formats
(Clause 5.15 of Section 4 of this RFP) will not be considered by IRCTC.
2.15.3 All deviations should be closed before the financial opening by mutual discussion between
IRCTC and Bidder. Financial bid would be opened only after closure of all deviations by the
technically successful bidders
2.16 Local Conditions
2.16.1 It will be incumbent upon each Bidder to fully acquaint himself with the local conditions and
factors at all respective locations, sites and offices which would have any effect on the
performance of the contract and or the cost.
2.16.2 The Bidder is expected to obtain for himself on his own responsibility all information that may
be necessary for preparing the bid and entering into contract. Obtaining such information shall
be at Bidder’s own cost.
2.16.3 Failure to obtain the information necessary for preparing the bid and or failure to perform
activities that may be necessary for project will in no way relieve the successful Bidder from
performing any work in accordance with the contract entered.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 20 of 191
2.16.4 It will be imperative for each Bidder to fully inform themselves of all local and legal conditions
and factors which may have any effect on the execution of the contract as described in the
RFP documents.
2.16.5 It is the responsibility of the Bidder that such factors have properly been investigated and
considered while submitting the bid response and that no claim whatsoever including those
for financial adjustment to the contract awarded under the bidding documents will be
entertained by IRCTC and that neither any change in the time schedule of the contract nor
any financial adjustments arising thereof shall be permitted by IRCTC on account of failure of
the Bidder to appraise themselves of local laws and conditions.
2.17 Last Date for Receipt of Bids
2.17.1 Bids will be received by IRCTC as specified under Section 1 of the RFP not later than the time
and date specified in Data Sheet in Section 1. In the event of the specified date for the receipt
of Bids being declared a holiday for IRCTC, the Bids will be opened on the next working day.
2.17.2 IRCTC may, at its discretion, extend the last date for the receipt of bids by amending the RFP
Document, in which case all rights and obligations of IRCTC and Bidder previously subject to
the last date will thereafter be subject to the last date as extended.
2.18 Modification and Withdrawal of Bids
2.18.1 No bid may be altered / modified after submission to IRCTC. Unsolicited correspondences in
this regard from Bidder will not be considered.
2.18.2 No bid may be withdrawn in the interval between the last date for receipt of bids and the
expiry of the bid validity period specified by the Bidder in the Bid. Also refer in this context,
penal actions as mentioned in EMD Clause 5.12 and Bid Securing Declaration.
2.19 Contacting IRCTC
2.19.1 No Bidder shall contact IRCTC on any matter relating to its bid, from the time of the bid
opening to the time the Contract is awarded.
2.19.2 Any effort by a Bidder to influence IRCTC bid evaluation, bid comparison or contract award
decisions shall result in the rejection of the Bidder’s bid.
2.20 Participation of Joint Venture (JV): This Clause shall be applicable for tenders wherein tender (RFP) documents specifically permit for the same.
2.20.1 Separate identity/name shall be given to the Joint Venture.
2.20.2 Number of members in a JV shall not be more than two. One of the members of the JV shall
be its Lead Member who shall have a majority (at least 51%) share of interest in the JV. In
case of JV with foreign member(s), the Lead Member has to be an Indian firm/company with a
minimum share of 51%.
2.20.3 A member of JV shall not be permitted to participate either in individual capacity or as a
member of another JV in the same tender.
2.20.4 The bid shall be submitted only in the name of the JV and not in the name of any constituent
member. The tender can however be submitted by JV or any of its constituent member or any
person authorized by JV through Power of Attorney to submit tender.
2.20.5 Earnest Money Deposit (EMD)/ Bid Securing Declaration shall be submitted by JV or
authorized person of JV as mentioned in tender document.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 21 of 191
2.20.6 A copy of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)/Joint Agreement as per Appendix-I duly
executed by the JV members on a stamp paper, shall be submitted by the JV along with the
tender. The complete details of the members of the JV, their share and responsibility in the JV
etc. particularly with reference to financial, technical and other obligations shall be furnished in
the JV Agreement.
2.20.7 Once the tender is submitted, the MoU/Joint Agreement shall not be modified / altered /
terminated during the validity of the tender. In case the tenderer fails to observe/comply with
this stipulation, penal action as per terms of tender will be applicable.
2.20.8 Approval for change of constitution of JV shall be at the sole discretion of the IRCTC. The
constitution of the JV shall not be allowed to be modified after submission of the tender bid by
the JV, except when modification becomes inevitable due to succession laws etc., provided
further that there is no change in qualification of minimum eligibility criteria by JV after change
of composition. However, the Lead Member shall continue to be the Lead Member of the JV.
Failure to observe this requirement would render the offer invalid.
2.20.9 Similarly, after the contract is awarded, the constitution of JV shall not be allowed to be
altered during the currency of contract except when modification become inevitable due to
succession laws etc. and minimum eligibility criteria should not get vitiated. Failure to observe
this stipulation shall be deemed to be breach of contract with all consequential penal action as
per contract conditions.
2.20.10 On award of contract to a JV, a single Performance Guarantee/Security Deposit shall be
submitted by the JV as per tender conditions. All the Guarantees like Performance
Guarantee, Bank Guarantee for Mobilization Advance, Machinery Advance etc. shall be
accepted only in the name of the JV and no splitting of guarantees amongst the members of
the JV shall be permitted.
2.20.11 On issue of LOA (Letter of Acceptance), the JV entity to whom the work has been awarded,
with the same shareholding pattern as was declared in the MOU/JV Agreement submitted
along with the tender, shall be got registered before the Registrar of the Companies under
'The Companies Act -2013' (in case of Company) or before the Registrar/Sub-Registrar under
the 'The Indian Partnership Act, 1932' (in case of Partnership Firm) or under 'The LLP Act
2008' (in case of LLP). A separate PAN shall be obtained for this entity. The documents
pertaining to this entity including its PAN shall be furnished to the IRCTC before signing the
contract agreement for the work. In case the tenderer fails to observe/comply with this
stipulation within 40 days of issue of LOA, contract is liable to be terminated. In case contract
is terminated, IRCTC shall be entitled to forfeit the full amount of the Earnest Money Deposit
and other dues payable to the Contractor under this contract, and or with all consequential
penal action as per contract conditions. The entity so registered, in the registered documents,
shall have, inter-alia, following Clauses:
2.20.12 Joint And Several Liability - Members of the JV entity to which the contract is awarded, shall
be jointly and severally liable to the IRCTC for execution of the contract in accordance with
General and Special Conditions of contract. The members of the entity shall also be liable
jointly and severally for the loss, damage caused to the IRCTC during the course of execution
of the contract or due to non-execution of the contract or part thereof.
2.20.13 Duration of the Registered Entity- It shall be valid during the entire currency of the contract
including the period of extension, if any and the maintenance period after the work is
completed.
2.20.14 Governing Laws - The Registered Entity shall in all respect be governed by and interpreted in
accordance with Indian Laws.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 22 of 191
2.20.15 Authorized Member - Joint Venture members in the JV MoU/Agreement shall authorize one of
the members as Lead member on behalf of the Joint Venture (as Appendix-III) to deal with the
tender, sign the agreement or enter into contract in respect of the said tender, to receive
payment, to witness joint measurement of work done, to sign measurement books and similar
such action in respect of the said tender/contract. All notices/correspondences with respect to
the contract would be sent only to this authorized member of the JV.
2.20.16 No member of the Joint Venture shall have the right to assign or transfer the interest right or
liability in the contract without the written consent of the other member and that of the IRCTC
in respect of the said tender/contract.
2.20.17 Documents to be enclosed by the JV along with the tender:
2.20.18 In case one or both of the members of the JV is/are partnership firm(s), following
documents shall be submitted:
a. A notarized copy of the Partnership Deed, A copy of consent of all the partners or
individual authorized by partnership firm, to enter into the Joint Venture Agreement on a
stamp paper,
b. A notarized or registered copy of Power of Attorney in favour of the individual to sign the
MOU/JV Agreement on behalf of the partnership firm and create liability against the firm.
2.20.18.1 In case one or both members is/are HUF, the following documents shall be enclosed:
A copy of notarized affidavit on Stamp Paper declaring that he who is signing the affidavit on
behalf of HUF is in the position of ‘Karta’ of Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) and he has the
authority, power and consent given by other members to act on behalf of HUF.
2.21.18.2 In case one or both members of the JV is/are companies, the following documents shall be submitted:
a. A copy of resolutions of the Board of Directors of the Company, permitting the company to enter into a JV agreement,
b. The copies of MOA (Memorandum of Association) / AOA (Articles of Association) of the company
c. A copy of d. e. f. g. h. i. Certificate of Incorporation j. A copy of Authorization/copy of Power of Attorney issued by the Company (backed by
the resolution of Board of Directors) in favour of the individual to sign the tender, sign MOU/JV Agreement on behalf of the company and creates liability against the company.
2.21.19 All the Members of JV shall certify that they are not blacklisted or debarred by Railways/IRCTC or any other Ministry / Department of the Govt. of India from participation in tenders/contract on the date of opening of bids either in their individual capacity or as a member of the JV in which they were/are members. 2. 22.0 All other documents in terms of qualifying criteria.
Credentials & Qualifying Criteria: Technical and financial eligibility of the JV shall be adjudged based on satisfactory fulfilment of the following criteria:
i. The technical qualifying criteria for the work for the work experience shall
be satisfied by either the ‘JV in its own name & style’ or ‘any member in
individual capacity.
ii. The arithmetic sum of individual “Turnover figures” of both the members shall be taken as
JV’s “financial capacity” to satisfy this requirement for the purpose of satisfying compliance of
the mentioned financial eligibility criteria in the tender under consideration.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 23 of 191
iii. Credentials if submitted in foreign currency shall be converted into Indian currency i.e., Indian
Rupee as under:
iv. The conversion rate of US Dollars into Rupees shall be the daily representative exchange
rates published by the Reserve Bank of India for the relevant date. Where, relevant date shall
be as on the last day of month previous to the one in which tender is invited. In case of any
other currency, the same shall first be converted to US Dollars as on the last day of month
previous to the one in which tender is invited, and the amount so derived in US Dollars shall
be converted into Rupees at the aforesaid rate. The conversion rate of such currencies shall
be the daily representative exchange rates published by the International Monetary Fund for
the relevant date.
v. In case of JV, Status of JV or Lead member shall be considered for the purpose of benefits
available to MSEs/Startups and purchase preference as available in Government
procurement as per extant notifications of GoI.
vi. Joint Venture (JV) is not a mandatory condition. A Bidder meeting all the qualification criteria
mentioned for a bidder may bid independently for this RFP/tender.
vi. In case of JV, the Lead Member must necessarily satisfy the Qualification criteria as
mentioned in clause 2.25 & 2.26 of this section.
vii. The Prime Bidder/Lead Member shall be the prime point of contact for IRCTC and shall be
primarily responsible for the discharge and administration of all the obligations for this project.
The sole responsibility under the contract would be that of the Prime Bidder only.
viii. Sub-contracting is allowed only for following job:
Cloud Services
ix. The Bidder shall be the principal employer for all claims arising from the liabilities statutory or
otherwise, concerning the sub-contractors. The prime bidder/contractor will be responsible for
the acts, defaults and neglects of any subcontractor, his agents, servants or workmen as fully
as if these were its own acts, defaults or neglects, or those of its agents, servants or
workmen.
x. The Bidder shall not appoint any delegate/sub-contractor without the consent in writing of the
Land Ports Authority of India for the performance of Services under this contract. It is
desirable that the number of sub-contractors engaged by the Bidder for this contract is kept to
the minimum possible.
xi. All the personnel proposed by the Bidder except sub-contracting services should be
necessarily be on the payroll of the Bidder/JV.
xii. The Bidder shall be responsible and shall ensure the proper performance of the sub-
contractors and shall be liable for any non-performance or breach by such System
Integrators. The Bidder indemnifies and shall keep indemnified Purchaser against any losses,
damages, claims or such other implications arising from or out of the acts and omissions of
such providers. The Bidder shall be responsible for making all payments to the sub-
contractors as may be necessary, in respect of any services performed or task executed, and
the Purchaser shall not be responsible for any part or full payment which is too due to such
System Integrators.
xiii. All rights of use of any process, product, service or facility developed or any other task
performed by the sub-contractors for the Bidder, under this contract would lie exclusively with
the Purchaser in perpetuity free from all liens, encumbrances and other third-party rights and
the Bidder shall, wherever required, take all steps that may be necessary to ensure the
transfer of such ownership in favour of the Purchaser.
xiv. Nothing in this Contract or any agreement hereunder shall relieve the Bidder from its liabilities
or obligations under this Contract to provide the services in accordance with this Contract.
The Purchaser reserves the right to hold the Bidder liable for any act/omission of sub-
contractors.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 24 of 191
xv. The Bidder shall ensure that the Sub-Contractor appointed is competent, professional and
possesses the requisite qualifications and experience appropriate to the tasks they will
perform.
xvi. The terms of Bidder’s contract / agreement with the sub-contractor (excluding the Financial
terms) for this assignment shall require the review and approval of the Purchaser and shall be
in conformity with the terms of this Contract. Where the Purchaser deems necessary, it may
refuse to consent to the delegation of services to the sub-contractor(s). The Bidder shall not
amend or modify the terms of contract / agreement with the sub-contractor(s) without the prior
written consent of the Purchaser.
xvii. Where the Purchaser deems necessary, it shall have the right to require replacement of any
sub-contractor with another system Integrator and the Bidder shall in such case terminate
forthwith all agreements / contracts other arrangements with such system integrator and find
suitable replacement for such system integrator to the satisfaction of the Purchaser at no
additional charge. Failure on the part of the Bidder to find a suitable replacement and/or
terminate all agreements / contracts with such member, shall amount to a breach of the terms
hereof and the Purchaser in addition to all other rights, have the right to claim damages and
recover from the Bidder all losses/ or other damages that may have resulted from such failure.
xviii. The Bidder shall not terminate the contract / agreement with the sub-contractor(s) without
prior written consent of the Purchaser. Further, in case the Bidder terminates any
contract/arrangement or agreement with a sub-contractor for any reason whatsoever, the
Bidder shall ensure the smooth continuation of services by providing forthwith, a suitable
replacement which is acceptable to the Purchaser at no additional cost to the Purchaser.
2.23 Criteria for Evaluation of Bids
2.23.1 The Bidder must possess the requisite experience, strength and capabilities in providing the
services necessary to meet the Purchaser’s requirements, as described in the RFP
Documents. The Bidder must possess the technical know-how and the financial wherewithal
that would be required to successfully provide the services sought by the Purchaser, for the
entire period of the contract. The Bidder’s bid must be complete in all respect and covering
the entire scope of work as stipulated in the RFP document.
2.23.2 Each of the responses shall be evaluated as per the criterions and requirements specified in
this RFP.
2.23.3 Initial Proposal scrutiny will be held to confirm that Proposals do not suffer from the infirmities
detailed below. Proposals will be treated as non-responsive, if a Proposal is found to have
been:
i. Submitted in manner not conforming with the manner specified in the RFP document
ii. Submitted without appropriate bid securing declaration as prescribed in tender document
iii. Received without power of attorney
iv. Containing subjective/incomplete information
v. Submitted without the documents requested in the checklist
vi. Non-compliant with any of the clauses stipulated in the RFP
vii. Having lesser than the prescribed validity period.
2.24 Evaluation Process
2.24.1 The evaluation process of the RFP proposed to be adopted by the Purchaser is indicated
under this clause.
2.24.2 IRCTC will constitute a committee to evaluate the responses of the Bidders (Tender
Committee).
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 25 of 191
2.24.3 The Tender Committee constituted by the IRCTC shall evaluate the responses to the RFP
and all supporting documents / documentary evidence. Inability of a Bidder to submit requisite
supporting documents / documentary evidence within a reasonable time provided to it, may
lead to the Bidder’s Proposal being declared non-responsive.
2.24.4 The decision of the IRCTC in the evaluation of responses to the RFP shall be final. No
correspondence will be entertained outside the process of negotiation/ discussion with the
Technical Evaluation Committee.
2.24.5 IRCTC reserves the right to reject any or all Proposals based on any deviations contained in
them.
2.24.6 Preliminary Examination
2.24.6.1 The Purchaser will examine the bids to determine whether they are complete, whether
the bid format confirms to the RFP requirements, whether required bid securing
declaration has been furnished, whether the documents have been properly signed, and
whether the bids are generally in order.
2.24.7 Clarification
2.24.7.1 When deemed necessary, during the tendering process, the Purchaser may seek
clarifications on any aspect from any or all the Bidders. However, that would not entitle
the Bidder to change or cause any change in the substance of the RFP submitted or
price quoted.
2.24.7.2 Bidder shall satisfy all criteria of prequalification provided in section 2.25 & 2.26 to clear
first stage of evaluation and to be considered for technical evaluation
2.24.8 Substantially Responsive Bids
2.24.8.1 A substantially responsive Bid is one, which conforms to all the requirements, terms,
conditions and specifications of the Request for Proposal.
2.24.8.2 Any attempt by a Bidder to influence it’s the bid evaluation process may result in the
rejection of the Bidder's Bid.
Each of the responses shall be evaluated as per the criterions and requirements specified in
this RFP. The evaluation stages are as follows: -
2.24.9 Stage 1: Prequalification Evaluation & Technical Evaluation
2.24.9.1 IRCTC will first evaluate the Pre-Qualification Bids & Technical Bids as per the Pre-
Qualification Criteria detailed in clause 2.25 & 2.26 of this Section. IRCTC shall evaluate
the bids based on bidders responsiveness to the Terms of Reference and by applying
the evaluation criteria specified in the document. Whenever it deemed necessary,
IRCTC may require written clarifications from the bidders to clarify ambiguities and
uncertainties arising out of the evaluation of the bid documents. The Technical Bids will
be evaluated based on criteria mentioned in clause 2.25 & 2.26 of this section of RFP.
2.24.9.2 Tender Committee shall have no access to the Financial Bids until Pre-Qualification
evaluation & Technical Evaluation is concluded and the IRCTC competent authority
accepts the tender recommendation recommendations.
2.24.9.3 Only those Bidders who qualify at this stage shall be considered for next stage i.e.
financial evaluation.
2.24.9.4 Bidders, whose bids are responsive, based on the technical evaluation criteria and score
a minimum of 70% of total marks (minimum marks to obtain for technically qualifying)
and which have a minimum score of 70% in each section of the technical criteria from the
technical evaluation criteria would be considered technically qualified and will be
considered for opening of their Financial Bid and evaluation thereof.
2.24.9.5 In case of no response by the Bidder to any of the requirements regarding the contents
of the Technical Bid, no marks will be assigned for the same
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 26 of 191
2.24.9.6 Technical bid of the Bidder shall be opened and evaluated for acceptability of Techno-
functional requirements, deviations and technical suitability. Bidders shall respond to the
requirements as explained below for their evaluation regarding experience and
qualification. Also, Bidder shall refer and respond to ALL technical requirements as
mentioned in the RFP document
2.24.10 Stage 2: Financial Evaluation
2.24.10.1 Tender Opening Committee will open the Financial Bids of only Technically Qualified
Bidders, in the presence of the representatives of the Bidder who choose to attend, at
the time, date and place, as decided by the Purchaser.
2.24.10.2 The Lowest Cost based system (L1) shall be followed to evaluate the bids, i.e. after
technical score of 70% and above, all the bidders will be treated alike and the bidder with
the lowest commercial bid will be awarded the contract.
2.24.10.3 If there is a discrepancy between words and figures, the amount in words will prevail.
2.24.10.4 The financial bids submitted by the bidders will remain valid for One hundred and eighty
(180) days from the due date of submission of the bid.
2.24.10.5 The date and time of opening of the Financial Bid shall be intimated to the
shortlisted Bidders and shall be opened at such appointed date and time in the
presence of those bidders or their representatives who choose to be present
2.24.10.6 In case, two bidders bid for same value then the Indian based bidder will be given
the preference under “Make in India”.
2.24.10.7 In case, two bidders bid for same value and both are India based then the bidder
scoring more numbers in the technical evaluation will be given the preference. In
case the technical marks also are the same then the bidder having the maximum
experience in similar field will be given the preference. Therefore, bidder is expected
to mention complete experience in respective annexure.
2.24.10.8 GST as applicable will be charged/paid extra and shall be applied as per above
criteria.
2.24.10.9 In case of extension of the contact also, revenue will be calculated as per the same
terms and condition of the tender document.
2.24.10.10 After determining the successful bidder, IRCTC shall issue a Letter of Award (LOA).
The successful bidder shall submit letter of acceptance along with Security Deposit
within the period as specified by IRCTC. In case bidder fails to accept the offer of
award of contract, the firm will be debarred for 01-year for participating in all future
tender of IRCTC. After one year, offer of the defaulting firm will only be considered
on submission of EMD.
2.24.10.11 IRCTC shall not be liable for any mistake or error or neglect by the bidder in respect
of the above.
2.24.10.12 No bid shall be modified or withdrawn by the bidder after the bid submission date.
Withdrawal of a bid during the interval between bid submission date and expiration
of the bid validity period.
2.24.10.13 If it is discovered at any point of time that the bidder has suppressed any fact or
given a false statement or has done misrepresentation or fraud or has violated any
of the terms of this bid, the bid will be cancelled by the IRCTC. In such an event, the
bidder will not be entitled to any compensation whatsoever, or refund of any other
amount paid by him.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 27 of 191
2.25 Prequalification Evaluation Criteria
2.25.1 Bidder should qualify for all parameters listed below:
S.no Parameter Qualifying Criteria Credentials to be
Required
Applicability
1. Company
Existence
The Bidder should be a
company/ MNC/
Government/ Private/
Joint Venture company
delivering marketing
solutions registered in
India under companies
Act 1956, or the
Companies Act,2013 (as
amended till date) or The
Limited Liability
Partnership Act,2008 (as
amended till date), as
applicable .
Copy of Certificate of
Incorporation, and
Certificate consequent
to change of name, if
applicable.
In case of partnership
company – Registered
Partnership Deed
Bidder refers to Single
Bidder
Or
Primary/ lead bidder in
case of JV
2. Corporate
PAN
Number
and GST
Number
The bidder should provide
IRCTC with Company
PAN number and GST
Number or its equivalent
registered number
relevant in their country
where the company
registered.
1. Copy of PAN
number allotted by
Income Tax
Department.
Or Taxpayer
Identification
Number
Registration
Certificate copy
issued by Income
Tax Department or
both.
2. GST Number
issued by
Government/Tax
Department.
Bidder refers to Single
Bidder
Or
All members of JV
3. Call Centre
Experience
The Bidder shall have
been in Call Centre
Operations for at least 5
years as on date of
invitation of bids. In case
the current Bidder
company is the result of a
merger / acquisition, at
least one of the merging
companies shall have
been in Call Centre
Operations operation for
at least 5 years as on date
of invitation of bids.
1. Any associated
document or
undertaking
specifying the
details of the
customer care
services
implemented for
clients clearly
specifying Call/
SMS handling
capacity (signed
by authorized
signatory of the
company/CA/CS)
2. Work
Order/Invoice
Prime Bidder/
Single Bidder/ JV
Member
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 28 of 191
S.no Parameter Qualifying Criteria Credentials to be
Required
Applicability
Copy/ Client
Certificate
3. For Start-up/
MSME, an affidavit
to certify their
technical capability
to fulfil Call/SMS
handling capacity
4. Turnover Bidder must have
minimum average annual
financial turnover (i.e.
Gross transaction value)
for over INR 84 Cr (Rupee
Fifty Cr Only) in previous
3 financial years (F.Y.
2019-20, F.Y. 2018-19,
F.Y. 2017-18).
Relaxation for MSE/
Startups Only:
Bidder must have
minimum average annual
financial turnover (i.e.
Gross transaction value)
for over INR 21 Cr in
previous 3 financial years
(F.Y. 2019-20, F.Y. 2018-
19, F.Y. 2017-18).
Audited Annual reports/
Profit & Loss Statement
clearly specifying the
Annual Turnover or
Chartered Accountant
Certificate clearly
stating the turnover of
previous three F.Y.
2017-18, 2018-19 &
2019-20
Bidder refers to Single
Bidder
Or
Primary/ lead bidder in
case of JV
5. Relevant
Project
experience
The Bidder should have
relevant experience in
India in providing
customer contact centre
services
a) At least one (1) such
project having minimum
monthly call and SMS
handling capacity as
mentioned below
Monthly Call handling
Capacity - 60 lakhs
(Sixty Lakhs Only)
per month and,
Monthly SMS
handling Capacity -
36 lakhs (Thirty-Six
Lakhs Only) per
month.
Or
b) At least Two (2) such
1. Any associated
document or
undertaking
specifying the
details of the
customer care
services
implemented for
clients clearly
specifying Call/ SMS
handling capacity
(signed by
authorized signatory
of the
company/CA/CS)
2. Work Order/Invoice
Copy/ Client
Certificate
3. For Start-up/ MSME,
an affidavit to certify
their technical
capability to fulfil
Call/SMS handling
capacity.
Prime Bidder/ Single
Bidder/ JV Member
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 29 of 191
S.no Parameter Qualifying Criteria Credentials to be
Required
Applicability
projects having minimum
monthly call and SMS
handling capacity as
mentioned below
Monthly Call handling
Capacity - 38 lakhs
(Thirty-Eight Lakhs
Only) per month and,
Monthly SMS
handling Capacity -
23 lakhs (Twenty-
three Lakhs Only) per
month.
Or
c) At least Three (3) such
projects having minimum
monthly call and SMS
handling capacity as
mentioned below
Monthly Call handling
Capacity - 30 lakhs
(Thirty Lakhs Only)
per month and,
Monthly SMS
handling Capacity -
18 lakhs (Eighteen
Lakhs Only) per
month.
6. Technical
Support
Bidder should have a
dedicated support team
for customer care services
on optimum basis to
handle all types of issues
(technical and non-
technical) encountered
during the lifetime of
project.
An undertaking in the
letter head of the bidder
to provide a dedicated
support team to handle
technical and non-
technical issues
Prime Bidder/ Single
Bidder/ JV Member
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 30 of 191
S.no Parameter Qualifying Criteria Credentials to be
Required
Applicability
7.
No
fraudulent
practices or
blacklisting
The bidder should not be
currently blacklisted or
have appeared their name
in the negative / black list
of any public sector
undertaking /Government
organization from the last
three years to the date of
opening of the bid for any
breach of applicable laws
or violation of regulatory
prescriptions or breach of
agreement.
The bidder should not
have been defaulted on
any bank/ financial
institute.
Declaration to be given
by bidder’s authorized
signatory in the letter
head of the bidder
All Members
8. Start-Up
India/
MSME
Relaxation
In case the bidder is Start-
up company under Govt.
of India “Start Up”
Initiative or MSE and is
not able to meet criteria
prior turnover
For Start Up: Copy of
valid certificate of
recognition as Start Up
from Department of
Industrial Policy and
Promotion (DIPP),
Ministry of commerce
and Industry
For MSE; Copy of Valid
SSI/MSE registration
certificate with items
mentioned in the
registration certificate
from the concerned
registration authority
Bidder refers to Single
Bidder
Or
Primary/ lead bidder in
case of JV
9. Minimum
call centre
agents
The Bidder shall have at
least 250 agents
employed in delivering in-
bound Call centre services
as on date of invitation of
bids.
Certificate from the
Bidder’s HR head (on a
company letterhead)
and signed by
authorized signatory of
the company/CA/CS)
Prime Bidder/ Single
Bidder/ JV Member
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 31 of 191
S.no Parameter Qualifying Criteria Credentials to be
Required
Applicability
10. Licensed
Call Centre
The Bidder or its wholly
owned subsidiary
providing BPO/Call Centre
services or the parent
company of whom the
Bidder is a wholly owned
subsidiary providing
BPO/Call Centre services,
shall have registered itself
with Department of
Telecommunication (DoT).
Copy of DOT/TRAI
certificate/ License for
the proposed sites.
Prime Bidder/ Single
Bidder/ JV Member
11. Multiple
language
support call
centre
The Bidder shall have
demonstrated capability of
serving customers in
Hindi, English, and at
least four of the required
vernacular languages -
Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam,
Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali,
Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi,
Assamese, Urdu. Total
calls handled in the four
vernacular languages
combined should be
minimum 500 per month.
Certificate from the
Bidder’s HR head (on a
company letterhead)
and signed by
authorized signatory of
the company/CA/CS)
Prime Bidder/ Single
Bidder/ JV Member
12. Meity
Empanelled
Cloud
Service
Provider
CSP participating in this
tender must be Meity
empanelled for DC and
DR services and STQC
audited
Authorisation Letter
from CSP
Meity Empanelment
letter of that CSP
Cloud Service
Provider
2.25.2 Please note that on-going projects are allowed under this criterion provided the bidder has
completed at least one phase in the project and submitted the certificate in this regard issued
by client.
2.25.3 Bidder is required to generate Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) for all kind of
certifications, GST and Tax Audit Reports and other proofs as per the RFP requirement which
are to be undertaken/ signed by member of ICAI/CA
2.25.4 Please note the bidders can showcase the experience of their parent company provided the
parent company gives an undertaking that it shall support the bidding entity during the
execution of the project.
Page 32 of 191
2.26 Technical Evaluation Criteria
2.26.1 Technical Evaluation: The Technical Bid Evaluation will be performed as:
The eligible bidders as per eligibility criteria shall be evaluated based on the analysis of their business plans, team skills, and experience in the
Contact centre business, organizational experience and other detailed criteria as follows:
S. No Description Marks Documentary Evidences Applicability
1 Experience of the
Bidder 40 Marks
a. Experience of
managing large scale
Contact centres
Operations in India with
200 or more calling
agents per project
15 marks
Copy of work order + Completion
Certificates/Operational Certificates
from the client;
OR
Copy of Work Order + Self
Certificate of
Completion/Operational (Certified
by CS/independent auditor of the
bidding entity);
Prime Bidder/ Single Bidder/ JV
Member 3 or more projects 15 marks
2 projects 10 marks
1 project 5 mark
0-1 project 0 mark
b. Experience of
managing Contact
centres Operations for
government or public
sector agency in India
10 marks
Copy of work order + Completion
Certificates/Operational Certificates
from the client;
OR Copy of Work Order + Self Certificate
of Completion/Operational (Certified by
CS/independent auditor of the bidding
Prime Bidder/ Single Bidder/ JV
Member
6 or more projects 10 marks
4-5 project 7 marks
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 33 of 191
S. No Description Marks Documentary Evidences Applicability
2-3 projects 5 marks
entity);
0-1 project 0 mark
c. Experience of
managing at least one
Cloud based contact
centre technology in
India
5 marks
Copy of work order + Completion
Certificates/Operational Certificates
from the client;
OR Copy of Work Order + Self Certificate
of Completion/Operational (Certified by
CS/independent auditor of the bidding
entity);
Prime Bidder/ Single Bidder/ JV
Member
d. Experience of
managing at least two
contact centre projects
handling inbound calls
in at least four regional
languages (other than
English & Hindi).
5 marks
Self-Certified dashboard report signed
from HR head of the bidder
Prime Bidder/ Single Bidder/ JV
Member
e. The bidder should have
ISO 27001:2013 and ISO
9001:2008 (or above)
certifications valid at
the time of bid
submission.
5 Marks Copy of the Certificates
Prime Bidder/ Single Bidder/ JV
Member
2 Team Skills: Evaluation of Bidder’s proposed
10 Marks
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 34 of 191
S. No Description Marks Documentary Evidences Applicability
team for this engagement
a. Project Manager (1
resource) 3 marks
Curriculum vitae of each team
member for evaluation as per
Clause 5.7 in Section IV of the RFP
Prime Bidder/ Single Bidder/ JV
Member
Total relevant
experience >10 years Mandatory
MBA/PGDBA or similar
Post Graduate Degree Mandatory
Experience of Managing
contact centre
engagement having
monthly call volumes
Project with average call volume
greater than 30 lacs - 2 Marks
Project with average call volume
greater than 20 lacs - 1 marks
PMP/PRINCE2/ITIL or
relevant certificate 1 Mark
b. Team Lead (2 marks X
2 resources) 2 marks
Curriculum vitae of each team member
for evaluation as per Clause 5.7 in
Section IV of the RFP
Prime Bidder/ Single Bidder/ JV
Member
Total relevant
experience > 8 years Mandatory
Graduate degree or
higher Mandatory
Experience of Managing
similar scale contact
centre engagement
having monthly call
Project with average call volume
greater than 10 lacs - 1 Marks
Project with average call volume
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 35 of 191
S. No Description Marks Documentary Evidences Applicability
volumes greater than 5 lacs – 0.5 marks
c. Solution Architect (1
resource) 5 marks
Curriculum vitae of each team member
for evaluation as per Clause 5.7 in
Section IV of the RFP
Prime Bidder/ Single Bidder/ JV
Member
Total relevant
experience >= 7 years Mandatory
B-Tech/BE (Computer
Science. Information
Technology or
equivalent)
Mandatory
Prior experience in
designing solution of
contact centre
operations
More than 3 Projects -2 marks
2-3 Projects -1 mark
0-1 Project – 0 mark
Experience as Cloud
architect for designing
solution of contact
centre operations
1 or more projects - 2 marks
0 Project – 0 Mark
Experience of working
with railways (India or
Global) with
understanding of
different Railways IT
systems
2-3 Projects -1 mark
0-1 Project – 0 mark
3 Feedback from Reference Site
30 Marks
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 36 of 191
S. No Description Marks Documentary Evidences Applicability
The Bidder is required to
provide recommendations
from existing Customers
with Officials Names,
Designations, Mobile
Numbers, email Id’s and
Office Addresses for
reference sites as per the
following requirements:
Site where the bidder is
providing atleast four of the
below services for Call
Centre operations, for the
following services,
a) Inbound call handling for
queries/ requests/
complaints handling
through contact centre
agents
b) IVRS, which is currently
handling inbound calls
c) Call Centre Solution is
deployed on the cloud
d) Call Centre Solution is
utilizing any of the
emerging technologies
like Analytics, Voice
Biometrics. blockchain,
More than 3 Projects -30 marks
2-3 Projects – 20 marks
1 Project – 10 marks
Client Certificate with Officials
Names, Designations, Mobile
Numbers, email Id’s and Office
Addresses for reference sites as
per the described requirements
And Work Order/ Purchase Order
for reference
Prime Bidder/ Single Bidder/ JV
Member
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 37 of 191
S. No Description Marks Documentary Evidences Applicability
Chatbots, Voice bots.
e) Handling average call
volume greater than 10
lacs per month
IRCTC may visit or contact
the same and any
discrepancy between stated
capacity/capabilities and site
verification may result in
disqualification.
4 Transition and Exit Management Plan
5 Marks
Detailed Transition and Exit
Management plan. To
include:
a) Comprehensiveness of
scope of work
b) Phase wise Exit
Management plan over a
period of 3 months of
undisrupted operations
c) Knowledge sharing
d) Complete data sharing
e) Integration of current
IRCTC/CRIS systems
with Contact Centre
5 Marks
Transition and Exit Management
Plan Paper as the part of Technical
Proposal
Prime Bidder/ Single Bidder/ JV
Member
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 38 of 191
S. No Description Marks Documentary Evidences Applicability
solution on cloud
5 Methodology and Work plan
15 Marks
Assessment of the overall
approach and the
methodologies for
implementation of project
2 marks
Approach & Methodology Paper as
part of Technical Proposal
Prime Bidder/ Single Bidder/ JV
Member
Work plan: Proposed
project work plan which
would ensure smooth
transition from present state
to desired state
1 mark
Proposed Solution:
Solution details including
proposed technology
solution, any other solution
component required to meet
functional and technical
requirements
2 marks
New Technologies@ viz.
Dynamic IVRS giving
approximate call wait time,
and queue time. Recording
of calls for Quality
Assessment other innovative
systems to enhance
efficiency and
responsiveness of the FTAs
without any additional cost
3 marks
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 39 of 191
S. No Description Marks Documentary Evidences Applicability
Technical Innovation: Key
differentiators / value-add
presented by the bidder in
terms of introduction of
cutting-edge emerging
technologies like predictive
analytics, voice biometrics,
Cognitive, AI, Chatbots etc.
3 marks
Data security and
confidentiality proposed
process
3 mark
Continuous Improvement
plan 1 mark
Total marks 100
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 40 of 191
The maximum marks shall be 100 and those bidders scoring 70 marks and above shall
qualify for the next stage.
2.26.2 Self-certificate certified by Company Secretary is allowed as a valid proof to be showcased for
qualifying in the technical evaluation criteria
2.26.3 Please note the bidders can showcase the experience of their parent company provided the
parent company gives an undertaking that it shall support the bidding entity during the
execution of the project.
2.27 Financial Evaluation Criteria
The financial evaluation will be based firstly on the following criteria: Out of the above
qualified Technical Bids, the bidder will be evaluated based on the following:
2.27.1.1 The Bid Value is calculated on per call rate quoted by the bidder
2.27.1.2 The bidders will be paid or pay to IRCTC on actual number of calls on quarterly basis.
2.27.1.3 If bid value is in negative numbers, then Bidder will pay the five-year fee to IRCTC on
quarterly basis till 5 years
(Per quarter fee = Cost of actual number of calls in a quarter)
OR If bid value is in positive numbers, then IRCTC will pay the five-year fee to Bidder on
quarterly basis till 5 years.
(Per quarter fee = Cost of actual number of calls in a quarter)
2.27.1.4 If IRCTC does not receive any positive bids and all bids are received in negative
number, bidders will be evaluated based on highest bid value and ranked as H1, H2,
H3, etc. based on their Bid Value and H1 will win the tender.
Or
If IRCTC does not receive any negative bids and all bids are received in positive
numbers, then the bidder will be evaluated based on the lowest bid value to IRCTC
bidders will be ranked as L1, L2, L3, etc. based on their Bid Value and L1 will win the
tender.
Or
If IRCTC receive both positive as well as negative bids, then bidders with negative quote
will be evaluated based on highest bid value and ranked as H1, H2, H3, etc. and
bidders with positive bid will be evaluated based on the lowest bid value and will be
ranked as L1, L2, L3, etc. based on their Bid Value and H1 will win the tender
2.28 Post Qualification and Award Criteria
2.28.1 This determination will consider the Bidder's financial, technical, implementation and post-
implementation strengths and capabilities. It will also include examination of the documentary
evidence submitted by the Bidder as part of the bid as well as such other information as the
Purchaser deems necessary and appropriate.
2.28.2 An affirmative determination will be a prerequisite for award of the Contract to the Bidder. A
negative determination will result in rejection of the Bidder's bid, in which event; the Purchaser
will proceed to the next best evaluated bid to make a similar determination of that Bidder's
capabilities to perform satisfactorily.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 41 of 191
2.28.3 IRCTC is not bound to accept the best evaluated bid or any bid and reserves the right to
accept any bid, wholly or in part.
2.28.4 The data submitted by the successful bidder, in compliance of the above qualification Criteria
shall be subject to verifications by IRCTC itself or through an agency (expert in forensic audit)
appointed by IRCTC, for which all necessary documents shall have to be essentially provided
by the bidder, if so required. If the successful bidder is found to be ineligible on such
verification, the letter of award will be terminated along with forfeiture of Security Deposit. In
such eventuality the successful bidder will also be debarred for 3 years from participating in
the future projects of IRCTC.
2.29 Purchaser's Right to Accept Any Bid and to Reject Any or All Bids
2.29.1 The Purchaser reserves the right to accept any bid, and to annul the tender process and
reject all bids at any time prior to award of Contract, without thereby incurring any liability to
the affected Bidder (s) or any obligation to inform the affected Bidder (s) of the grounds for the
Purchaser's action.
2.30 Notification of Award
2.30.1 Prior to the expiration of the period of bid validity, pursuant to Clause 2.15, the Purchaser will
notify the successful Bidder in writing that its bid has been accepted. The Bidder shall provide
his acceptance within specific period mentioned by Purchaser.
2.30.2 The notification of award will constitute the formation of the Contract.
2.31 Security Deposit
2.31.1 Within 30 days of the receipt of notification of award/ Letter of Intent (LoI) from the Purchaser,
the successful Bidder shall furnish the Security Deposit of INR 1,66,60,000 in accordance
with the Conditions of Contract, in the Security Deposit prescribed at Clause 5.18 of Section 4
of this RFP given by any scheduled bank.
2.31.2 Security Deposit shall be valid for six months more than the period of the contract.
2.31.3 No interest shall be paid on the deposited security money.
2.32 Signing of Contract
2.32.1 The successful Bidder shall sign the contract with GGM/IT/IRCTC within 30 days of
submission of Security Deposit.
2.33 Rejection Criteria
2.33.1 Besides other conditions and terms highlighted in the RFP document, bids may be rejected
under following circumstances:
2.33.2 General Rejection Criteria
2.33.2.1 Bids submitted without or improper bid securing declaration (EMD performa)
2.33.2.2 Bids not submitted over IRCTC tender wizard.
2.33.2.3 Bids received through Only Offline / Telex / Telegraphic / Fax / e-Mail
2.33.2.4 Bids which do not confirm unconditional validity of the bid as prescribed in the RFP
2.33.2.5 If the information provided by the Bidder is found to be incorrect / misleading at any
stage / time during the Tendering Process
2.33.2.6 Any effort on the part of a Bidder to influence the Purchaser’s bid evaluation, bid
comparison or contract award decisions
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 42 of 191
2.33.2.7 Bids received by the Purchaser after the last date and time for receipt of bids prescribed
by the Purchaser, pursuant to Data Sheet in Section 1.
2.33.2.8 Bids without power of attorney and any other document consisting of adequate proof of
the ability of the signatory to bind the Bidder
2.33.2.9 Bids without an undertaking of having understood the provision of the RFP fully.
2.33.2.10 Bids received without Integrity Pact duly filled-in and signed by the bidder.
2.33.2.11 Revelation of prices by the bidder in any form or by any reason, for example by
indicating in Technical Bid packet, before opening the Financial Bid.
2.33.2.12 Financial bids that do not conform to the E-Tender Schedule
2.33.2.13 Information submitted in bid is found to be misrepresented, incorrect or false,
accidentally, unwittingly or otherwise, at any time during the processing of the contract
(no matter at what stage) or during the tenure of the contract including the extension
period if any.
2.33.3 Prequalification/ Technical Rejection Criteria
2.33.3.1 Technical Bid containing financial details.
2.33.3.2 Revelation of prices in any form or by any reason before opening the Financial Bid
2.33.3.3 Failure to furnish all information required by the RFP Document or submission of a bid
not substantially responsive to the RFP Document in every respect.
2.33.3.4 Bidders not responding to the complete eligibility criteria and scope of work as indicated
in the RFP documents, addendum (if any) and any subsequent information given to the
Bidder.
2.33.3.5 If the bid does not conform to the timelines indicated in the bid.
2.33.4 Financial Rejection Criteria
2.33.4.1 Incomplete Price Bid
2.33.4.2 Price Bids that do not conform to the RFP’s price bid format.
2.33.4.3 If there is an arithmetic discrepancy in the Financial Bid calculations the Purchaser shall
rectify the same. If the Bidder does not accept the correction of the errors, bid may be
rejected.
2.34 Benefits to Registered SSI/MSEs firms
2.34.1 Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) vide letter no. 21(1)2011-MA
dated 25.04.2012 has notified a new Public Procurement policy for the Micro and Small
Enterprises (MSEs) who are registered with
(i) District Industries Centers or
(ii) Khadi and Village Industries Commission or
(iii) Khadi and Village Industries Board or
(iv) Coir Board or
(v) National Small Industries Corporation or
(vi) Directorate of Handicraft and Handloom or
(vii) any other body specified by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
(viii) With effect from 18.09.2015, MSEs registered under Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum
(UAM) are also eligible to avail the benefits under this policy.
2.34.2 Following benefits are available to such MSEs under this policy:
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 43 of 191
(i) Issue of Tender document free of cost,
(ii) Exemption from payment of Earnest Money,
(iii) Relaxation in Prior Experience and Prior Turnover
a. Further, in case of tenders where splitting of quantity is possible, participating Micro and Small
Enterprises quoting prices within in price band of L1 + 15% shall be allowed to supply a portion
of requirements by bringing down their price to L1 price in a situation where L1 price is from
someone other than a Micro and Small Enterprises and such Micro and Small Enterprises can
be together ordered up to 25% of the total tendered quantity. In case of more than one such
MSE, the supply will be shared proportionately (to tendered quantity).
b. Special provisions for SSI/MSEs owned by Scheduled Castes or Schedule Tribes and Women:
Out of the 25% quantity of this E-Tender for SSI/MSEs a sub target of 4% quantity of this e-
tender is earmarked for procurement from SSI/MSEs owned by the Scheduled Castes or the
Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs and 3% SSI/MSEs owned by woman entrepreneurs, provided
that, in event of failure of such Micros and Small Enterprises to participate in E-Tender process
or meet E-Tender requirements and L1 price, 4% sub target for procurement earmarked for
SSI/MSEs owned by Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs shall be met
from other registered SSI/MSEs.
c. MSEs registered with any of the above agencies for the tendered item shall be exempted from
payment of Earnest Money.
d. MSEs interested in availing themselves of these benefits must enclose, along with their offer, a
copy of proof of their registration with any of the above mentioned agencies and also indicate
the terminal validity date of their registration.
e. The registration certificate should also include information about the status in regard to their
category i.e., the ownership MSE pertains to SC/ST/Other category clearly. Absence of any
such information in the registration certificate would be taken as MSE failing in the category as
“others”.
f. The SSI/MSE who have availed the benefit of exemption of Earnest Money will not be allowed
to withdraw their offer during the currency of the validity of offer or extended validity, firm will be
debarred for 01-year for participating in all future tender of IRCTC. After one year, offer of the
defaulting firm will only be considered on submission of EMD.
Note : The bidders must note that –
(A) The benefits as specified above shall be available to MSEs only for Goods produced and
Services rendered by MSEs. Policy is meant for procurement of goods produced and services
rendered by MSEs. Decision of IRCTC in this regard shall be final and binding.
(B) Above clause 2.34.2(a) and 2.34.2(b) above shall not be applicable for this tender as the
quantities under this tender cannot be split.
2.34.3 Relaxed Norms for DIPP registered Startups (Prior experience criteria and
financial criteria)
Following benefits as available to MSMEs will also be available for Startups as recognized by
Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, GOI.
(i) Issue of Tender document free of cost,
(ii) Exemption from payment of Earnest Money,
(iii) Relaxation in Prior Experience and Prior Turnover
Note: Startups who have availed the benefit of exemption of Earnest Money will not be allowed
to withdraw their offer during the currency of the validity of offer or extended validity, firm will be
debarred for 01-year for participating in all future tender of IRCTC. After one year, offer of the
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 44 of 191
defaulting firm will only be considered on submission of EMD.
2.35 Restrictions under Rule 144 (xi) of the General Financial Rules (GFRs), 2017.
2.35.1 Any bidder from a country which shares a land border with India will be eligible to bid only if
the bidder is registered with the Competent Authority, specified in Annexure-D
2.35.2 "Bidder' (including the term 'tenderer', 'consultant' 'vendor' or 'Service provider in certain
contexts) means any person or firm or company, participating in a procurement process.
2.35.3 "Bidder from a country which shares a land border with India" for the purpose of this Order
means
a) An entity incorporated, established or registered in such a country; or
b) A subsidiary of an entity incorporated, established or registered in such a country; or
c) An entity substantially controlled through entities incorporated, established or registered in such a
country; or
d) An entity whose beneficial owner is situated in such a country; or
e) An Indian (or other) agent of such an entity; or
f) A natural person who is a citizen of such a country; or
2.35.4 "Beneficial owner'' for the purpose of paragraph 2.35.3 above will be as under:
(i) In case of a company or Limited Liability Partnership, the beneficial owner is the natural person(s),
who, whether acting alone or together, or through one or more juridical person(s), has a controlling
ownership interest or who exercises control through other means.
Explanation—
a. "Controlling ownership interest" means ownership of, or entitlement to, more than twenty-five per
cent of shares or capital or profits of the company;
b. "Control" shall include the right to appoint the majority of the directors or to control the management
or policy decisions, including by virtue of their shareholding or management rights or shareholders
agreements or voting agreements;
(ii) In case of a partnership firm, the beneficial owner is the natural person(s) who, whether acting
alone or together, or through one or more juridical person, has ownership of entitlement to more than
fifteen percent of capital or profits of the partnership;
(iii) In case of an unincorporated association or body of individuals, the beneficial owner is the natural
person(s), who, whether acting alone or together, . or through one or more juridical person, has
ownership of or entitlement to more than fifteen percent of the property or capital or profits of such
association or body of individuals;
(iv) Where no natural person is identified under (i) or (ii) or (iii) above, the beneficial owner is the
relevant natural person who holds the position of senior managing official;
(v) In case of a trust, the identification of beneficial owner(s) shall include identification of the author of
the trust, the trustee, the beneficiaries with fifteen percent or more interest in the trust and any other
natural person exercising ultimate effective control over the trust through a chain of control or
ownership.
2.35.5 "Agent" for the purpose of this Order is a person employed to do any act for another, or to
represent another in dealings with third persons.
2.35.6 The successful bidder shall not be allowed to sub-contract works to any contractor from a
country which shares a land border with India unless such contractor is registered with the Competent
Authority.
2.35.7 Bidder must submit a certificate (Declaration as under in the company letter head ) in this
regard along with bid for compliance of OM of MoE dated 23.07.2020 considering latest amendment,
If such certificate given by a bidder whose bid is accepted is found to be false, this would be a ground
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 45 of 191
for immediate termination and further legal action in accordance with law. Non-submission of
Certificate may lead to summarily rejection of offer.
Certificate for Compliance to OM of MoE dated 23.07.2020
(To be submitted on the letterhead of the Applicant/ Bidder)
"I/We have read the clause regarding restrictions on procurement from a bidder of a country which
shares a land border with India and on sub-contracting to contractors from such countries.
(a) I certify that M/s_____________________ (name of Bidder) is not from such a country and will not sub-contract any work to a contractor from such countries unless such contractor is registered with the Competent Authority. I also certify that M/s________________will not offer any products/services of entity from such countries unless such entity is registered with the Competent Authority. Or (b) I certify that M/s_____________________ (name of Bidder) is from such a country and has been registered with the Competent Authority. I also certify that M/s________________has products/services of entity from such countries and these entity/entities are also registered with the Competent Authority. I also certify that M/s_____________________has sub-contracted some work to a contractor from such countries and that such contractor is registered with the Competent Authority. | hereby certify that M/s_______________________(name of Bidder) fulfills all requirements in this regard and is eligible to be considered. I hereby acknowledge that in the event of acceptance of my bid on above certificate and if the certificate is found to be false at any stage, the false certificate would be a ground for immediate termination of contract and further legal action in accordance with the Law. (Signature & Name of Authorized person of the Bidder) Name & address of the Bidder with stamp Note: 1. Give certificate for either (a) or (b) and strike out whatever is not applicable either in (a) or (b) 2. Where applicable, evidence of valid registration by the Competent Authority shall be attached/ uploaded alongwith the bid/offer 3. Bidders are advised to attach/upload the certificate duly signed by authorized person of the Bidder and duly stamped alongwith their Bid/Offer
2.35.8 Validity of registration by Competent Authority:
In respect of tenders, registration should be valid at the time of submission of bids and at the time of
acceptance of bids. In respect of supply otherwise than by tender, registration should be valid at the
time of placement of order. If the bidder was validly registered at the time of acceptance placement of
order, registration shall not be a relevant consideration during contract execution.
2.35.9 Notwithstanding above, the terms & conditions mentioned above will not apply to bidders from
those countries (even if sharing a land border with India) to which the Government of India has
extended lines of credit or in which the Government of India is engaged in development projects.
Annexure -D
Competent Authority and Procedure for Registration
A. The Competent Authority for the purpose of registration under this Order shall be the Registration
Committee constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)*.
B. The Registration Committee shall have the following members*:
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 46 of 191
i) An officer, not below the rank of Joint Secretary, designated for this purpose by DPIIT, who shall be
the Chairman;
ii) Officers (ordinarily not below the rank of Joint Secretary) representing the Ministry of Home Affairs,
Ministry of External Affairs, and of those Departments whose sectors are covered by applications
under consideration;
iii) Any other officer whose presence is deemed necessary by the Chairman of the Committee.
C. DPIIT shall lay down the method of application, format etc. for such bidders as stated in Para 1 of
this Order.
D. On receipt of an application seeking registration from a bidder from a country covered by Para 1 of
this Order, the Competent Authority shall first seek political and security clearances from the Ministry
of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs, as per guidelines issued from time to time.
Registration shall not be given unless political and security clearance have both been received.
E. The Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs may issue guidelines for internal use
regarding the procedure for scrutiny of such applications by them.
F. The decision of the Competent Authority, to register such bidder may be for all kinds of tenders or
for a specified type(s) of goods or services, and may be for a specified or unspecified duration of time,
as deemed fit, The decision of the Competent Authority shall be final.
G. Registration shall not be granted unless the representatives of the Ministries of Home Affairs and
External Affairs on the Committee concur'.
H. Registration granted by the Competent Authority of the Government of India shall be valid not only
for procurement by Central Government and its agencies/ public enterprises etc. but also for
procurement by State Governments and their agencies! public enterprises etc. No fresh registration at
the State level shall be required.
I. The Competent Authority is empowered to cancel the registration already granted if it determines
that there is sufficient cause. Such cancellation by itself, however, will not affect the execution of
contracts already awarded. Pending cancellation, it may also suspend the registration of a bidder, and
the bidder shall not be eligible to bid in any further tenders during the period of suspension.
J. For national security reasons, the Competent Authority shall not be required to give reasons for
rejection / cancellation of registration of a bidder.
K. In transitional cases falling under Para 2.35 of this Order, where it is felt that it will not be
practicable to exclude bidders from a country which shares a land border with India, a reference
seeking permission to consider such bidders shall be made by the procuring entity to the Competent
Authority, giving full information and detailed reasons. The Competent Authority shall decide whether
such bidders may be considered, and if so shall follow the procedure laid down in the above Paras.
L. Periodic reports on the acceptance/ refusal of registration during the preceding period may be
required to be sent to the Cabinet Secretariat. Details will be issued separately in due course by
DPIIT,
[Note:
i. In respect of application of this Order to procurement by/ under State Governments, all functions
assigned to DPIIT shall be carried out by the State Government concerned through a specific
department or authority designated by it. The composition of the Registration Committee shall be as
decided by the State Government and paragraph G above shall not apply. However, the requirement
of political and security clearance as per pare D shall remain and no registration shall be granted
without such clearance.
Registration granted by State Governments shall be valid only for procurement by the State
Government and its agencies/ public enterprises etc. and shall not be valid for procurement in other
states or by the Government of India and their agencies/ public enterprises etc.]
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 47 of 191
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 48 of 191
3 Section III: General Conditions of the Contract (GCC)
3.1 Definitions and Interpretations
In the Contract, unless the context otherwise requires.
Section III: General Conditions of the Contract
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 49 of 191
3.1.1 “IRCTC” would mean the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd acting
through its concerns Group General Manager or any other representative authorized by him.
3.1.2 “Acceptance of Bid” means the letter/telex/telegram/fax or any memorandum
communicating to the bidder as the acceptance of his bid and includes an advance
acceptance of his bid.
3.1.3 Acceptance of the System means the system shall be deemed to have been accepted by
the IRCTC, subsequent to its installation and rollout, when all the activities as defined in
Scope of Work have been successfully executed and completed to the satisfaction of IRCTC.
3.1.4 Adverse means material adverse effect on:
the ability of the bidder to exercise any of its rights or perform/discharge any of its
duties/obligations under and in accordance with the provisions of the Contract Agreement
and/or
the legal validity, binding nature or enforceability of the Contract Agreement;
3.1.5 Applicable Law(s) means any statute, law, ordinance, notification, rule, regulation, judgment,
order, decree, bye-law, approval, directive, guideline, policy, requirement or other
governmental restriction or any similar form of decision applicable to the relevant party and as
may be in effect on the date of the execution of the Contract Agreement and during the
subsistence thereof, applicable to the Project;
3.1.6 “Contract” means and includes the invitation to bid, Instructions to Bidders, Acceptance of
Bid, Special Conditions of Contract and other conditions specified in the acceptance of bid
and includes a repeat order which has been accepted or acted upon by the contractor and a
formal agreement, if executed;
3.1.7 The “Contractor” or “Managed Service Partner (MSP)” or Call Centre Service Provider
(CCSP) means the person, firm, JV or company with whom the purchase order is placed and
shall be deemed to include the contractor’s successors (approved by the Purchaser),
representatives, heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assignees, as the case may
be, unless excluded by the terms of the contract. The terms “Contractor” and “Successful
Bidder” have been used interchangeably in this bid document.
3.1.8 “Purchasing Officer” means the officer signing the acceptance of bid and includes any
officer who has authority to execute the relevant contract on behalf of IRCTC.
3.1.9 The “Purchaser” or” Buyer” IRCTC or any representative authorized by IRCTC.
3.1.10 Bidder/ Tenderer: Shall mean a company/firm in its individual right or the legal member of
the JV.
3.1.11 “IRCTC Project Manager” means designated representative of IRCTC authorized as head of
concerned project and is authorized to take decisions on behalf of IRCTC in respect of project
implementation.
3.1.12 “Bidder’s Project Manager” means a designated representative of Bidder, who is
empowered by the authorized signatory of Bidder for delivering the contractual obligations
under this contract. He/she will be the one-point interface with IRCTC.
3.1.13 “Service” means a service to be given by contractor as stated in tender/contact details
i) In relation to Hardware, including networking equipment and infrastructure and office
machines
ii) In relation to manpower and Annual Maintenance and Operation Contract. iii) In relation to system/application software supplied by the bidder iv) Training v) Design, Development and support
3.1.14 “Personnel” means Staff, employees, agents, contractors and sub-contractors (if permitted
in tender) of either party and also includes the staff, employees, agents and contractors of
those subcontractors with qualification, experience and certification.
3.1.15 “Software” means system/ application software to be supplied by the contractor, as stated
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 50 of 191
in the contact details.
3.1.16 “Specifications” means all the functional, operational, performance or other characteristics
required of a Product or Service found in tender document or any of the annexure or
addendum to the tender document.
3.1.17 Measurements and Arithmetic Conventions means all measurements and calculations
shall be in the metric system and calculations done to two decimal places, with the third digit
of five or above being rounded up and below five being rounded down except in money
calculations where such amounts shall be rounded off to the nearest INR.
3.1.18 Ambiguities within Agreement means in case of ambiguities or discrepancies within this
Agreement, the following principles shall apply:
I. as between two Clauses of this Agreement, the provisions of a specific Clause relevant to
the issue under consideration shall prevail over those in a general Clause;
II. as between the provisions of this Agreement and the Schedules/Annexure, the Agreement
shall prevail, save and except as expressly provided otherwise in the Agreement or the
Schedules/Annexures; and
III. as between any value written in numerals and that in words, the value in words shall prevail.
3.1.19 Priority of documents
3.1.19.1 This Agreement, including its Schedules and Annexures, represents the entire
agreement between the Parties as noted in this Clause. If in the event of a dispute as to
the interpretation or meaning of this Agreement it should be necessary for the Parties to
refer to documents forming part of the bidding process leading to this Agreement, then
such documents shall be relied upon and interpreted in the following descending order of
priority:
I. This Agreement along with
II. the SLA agreement,
III. NDA agreement,
IV. Schedules and Annexures;
V. the RFP along with subsequently issued corrigendum
VI. Technical and financial proposal submitted by the successful bidder, to the extent
they along with subsequently issued clarifications furnished by the Managed Service
Partners in response to the RFP, to the extent they are not inconsistent with any
terms of the RFP.
For the avoidance of doubt, it is expressly clarified that in the event of a conflict between
this Agreement, Annexures / Schedules or the contents of the RFP, the terms of this
Agreement shall prevail over the Annexures / Schedules and Annexures / Schedules
shall prevail over the contents and specifications of the RFP.
3.2 Authorized Signatory and address of the contractor
The Signatory of the tenderer should attach an authorization certificate mentioning:
3.2.1 The proprietor in case of “Sole Proprietor” firm or constituted attorney of such sole proprietor.
3.2.2 One of the partners in the case of a “Partnership” firm, in which case he must have authority
to refer to arbitration disputes concerning the business of the partnership either by virtue of
the partnership agreement or a power of attorney. In the absence of such authority all
partners should sign the Tender.
3.2.3 A director or the regional head in case of a limited company or an official of requisite authority
in the case of a government institution, duly authorized by a resolution of the board of
directors.
3.2.4 For all purpose of the contract, including arbitration thereafter, the address of the tenderer
mentioned in the tender shall be the address to which all communications shall be the
addressed.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 51 of 191
3.3 Qualification Criteria of Tenderer
(It is compulsory to enclose supporting documents without which the bid may be
disqualified)
3.3.1 In case of single or limited tenders, only tenderers who are specifically invited by IRCTC or
their authorized representative with their unconditional authorization in respect of complete
scope of work under this tender as per Performa given in Section IV, shall be eligible to
participate subject to fulfilment of special eligibility conditions laid down in the Special
Conditions given in this tender document.
3.3.2 Qualification criteria for advertised/open tenders shall be as stated in Tender Document.
3.4 JV bidders
3.4.1 Bids is submitted by a JV shall be acceptable if specifically permitted in Section II of the
Tender Document. In such cases, the lead partner/prime member of the JV should fulfil the
qualifying criteria given in para3.2 above.
3.4.2 A copy of the memorandum of formation of JV giving clear responsibilities of JV members,
duly signed by authorized signatories as defined in 3.2 above for each constituent member of
the JV, must be submitted along with the offer.
3.4.3 No change in the composition of JV shall be permitted up to finalization of the contract.
However, after acceptance of purchase order, if for reasons to be explained by the lead
partner/prime member to IRCTC, for which IRCTC will be at liberty to accept or reject, any
member of the JV is changed, a modified memorandum of formation of JV, duly signed by
authorized signatories of constituents shall be submitted by the lead partner while announcing
the change to IRCTC.
3.4.4 Notwithstanding any change in the composition of JV at post purchase order stage, complete
and total responsibility and liability for execution of the contract shall remain of the lead
partner.
3.5 Earnest Money Deposit
3.5.1 The EMD has been exempted due to current pandemic, however the bidder has to submit the
undertaking from the authorised signatory as per the Performa 5.12 Section-IV
3.6 Completion of Tender Documents
3.6.1 All columns of the technical specification’s compliance sheet must be filled. Any deviations
should be clearly indicated against individual line items. All rates in the Financial Bids should
be clearly filled. The rates must be in words and figures both. In case of any discrepancy unit
rate in words will take precedence.
3.6.2 The Purchaser will accept internationally accepted alternative specifications which ensure
equal or higher quality than the specifications mentioned in the Technical Specification except
where Make or brand is specified in the technical specifications. However, the decision of the
Purchaser in this regard shall be final. The Tenderer should also furnish “Statement of
Deviations” from tender specifications as per proforma given in Section IV of the tender
document along with the offer.
3.6.3 No alteration/cutting is permitted in the bid documents.
3.6.4 Tenderer shall submit all technical information and product brochures along with the techno-
commercial bid. The language of these documents must be English.
3.6.5 The tenderer should submit self-details as per proforma given in Section IV.
3.6.6 Tender documents with non-compliance of the above clauses are liable to be rejected.
3.7 Amendments to Bid Invitation
3.7.1 The purchaser reserves the right, to make revisions or amendments to the bid documents,
when deemed necessary, prior to the closing date of the bid, through proper notification or
website. The bidders must watch IRCTC web site for any such amendments. The purchaser
shall be at liberty to consider extending the date set for the bid opening by such a number of
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 52 of 191
days as in the opinion of the purchaser will enable the bidders to revise their bids.
3.8 Clarifications, Omissions and Discrepancies in Tender Document
3.8.1 In case any bidder find any discrepancy or omission in the any part of the tender Document/or
he has any doubt to their meaning, he should notify the Purchaser minimum 7 days prior to
tender opening date who may clarify and send a written instruction to all bidders for
correction, if necessary. It, however, does not entitle the bidder to seek any extension of
tender opening date.
3.8.2 It shall be understood that every endeavour has been made to avoid any error which can
materially affect the basis of the bid and successful bidder shall take upon himself and
provide for the risk of any error which may subsequently be discovered and shall make no
subsequent claim on account thereof.
3.8.3 The submission of the tender will be deemed to imply that the Tenderer fully understands the
scope of work involved and has read and understood all conditions of the tender document
and his liabilities and responsibilities in respect of the tender.
3.9 Process to Be Confidential
3.9.1 After the public opening of bids, information relating to the examination, clarification,
evaluation and comparison of bids, and recommendations concerning the award of the
purchase order shall not be disclosed to the tenderer or other persons not officially concerned
with such process.
3.9.2 Any effort by the tenderer to influence the purchaser in the process of examination,
clarification, evaluation and comparison of bids, and in the decision concerning the contract,
may result in rejection of his bid.
3.10 Technical Clarifications
3.10.1 To assist in the examination, evaluation and comparison of bids, IRCTC may ask the tenderer
individually for a clarification on his bid including breakdowns of unit rates. The request for
clarification and the responses shall be in writing/fax but no change in price or substance shall
be sought, offered or permitted except as required to confirm the correction of arithmetical
errors discovered by IRCTC during the evaluation of bids. Such reply shall be given within the
time limit mentioned in the intimation issued by IRCTC, failing which IRCTC will be at liberty
to conclude that nothing further is to be submitted by the vendor on this matter.
3.10.2 The bidder should make available the offered products, if desired during evaluation of bids for
benchmarking of the application to ensure that there are no compatibility issues.
3.11 Validity
3.11.1 The validity of the bid must be for a minimum of 180 days from the last day of bid submission.
Any subsequent extension of validity shall be for minimum 60 days.
3.12 Right of Acceptance
3.12.1 IRCTC reserves the right to place order for a part item/combination of the quantity offered.
The unit rates offered by the tenderer shall be valid for any such part order. IRCTC reserves
the right to reject any or all tenders without assigning any reason to the tenderer. IRCTC may
call upon one or more tenderer for demonstration/testing of all or any quoted item at IRCTC
office.
3.13 Indemnities and Liabilities
3.13.1 The contractor shall indemnify and protect the purchaser from and against all actions, suits,
proceedings losses, costs, damages, charges, claims and demands of every nature and
description brought against or recovered from IRCTC/Railways by reasons of any act or
omission of the contractor, his agents or employees, in the execution of the works or in the
guarding of the same.
3.13.2 Total financial liabilities of the bidder arising out of breach of contractual obligations shall not
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 53 of 191
exceed the value of contract and shall be limited to direct damages. However, any liabilities
arising out of breach of any obligation(s) commonly applicable in Indian or International law or
regulation or intellectual property right infringements etc shall not be limited by this agreement
and the bidder shall be solely and completely responsible for any such violation on his part.
3.14 Insurance
3.14.1 The purchaser shall not arrange for any ‘Transit Insurance’ and the Bidder will be responsible
till the entire goods contracted, arrive in good condition at destination site as mentioned in the
delivery schedule and the tenderer shall, at his own cost, unconditionally replace/rectify the
goods lost/damaged to the entire satisfaction of the consignee within 30 days from the date of
receipt of intimation from the consignee.
3.15 Local Conditions
3.15.1 It will be the sole responsibility of each bidder to fully acquaint him with all the local conditions
and factors, which could have any effect on the performance of the contract and/or the cost.
3.16 Prices
3.16.1 All Prices shall be in Indian Rupees and no foreign exchange/import license shall be provided.
However, Firm should explicitly indicate these charges in their offer. If offer is silent about the
above charges, then it will be presumed that prices are inclusive of these charges. However
bidder will have no right to demand and charges/additions to such charges as may be levied,
subsequent to opening of the bid.
3.16.2 In case of change in GST on account of change in rules/legislation by the Government, the
actual rates as applicable at the time of placement of order shall be payable only for taxes
which are clearly stated as percentages in the offer.
3.16.3 Quoted prices shall remain firm during the currency of contract and subsequent repeat order.
3.16.4 IRCTC reserves the right to place order for a part item/combination of the quantity offered.
The unit rates offered by the tenderer shall be valid for any such part order.
3.17 Price Fall
3.17.1 The prices charged for the goods/services supplied under the contract by the vendor shall at
no event exceed the lowest price at which the vendor sells the goods or offers to sell the
goods of identical description to any person/ organization including the purchaser or any
department of State/Central Government, as the case may be during the currency of the
contract.
3.17.2 If, at any time during the said period the vendor reduces the sale price, sells or offers to sell
such goods to any person/organization including the purchaser or any department of
State/Central Government as the case may be at a price lower than the price chargeable
under the contract, the vendor shall forthwith notify such reduction or sale or offer to sell to
the purchaser and the price payable under the order for supply of material after the date of
coming into force of such reduction or sale or offer to sell shall stand correspondingly
reduced.
3.17.3 The above clauses are applicable for Rate Contract Tender only and not for fixed quantity
tenders
3.18 Acceptance of Purchase Order
3.18.1 Prior to the expiry of bid validity, the successful bidder shall be notified by mail/fax/post.
Within 7 days or as mentioned in letter of the award of the contract the successful bidder shall
send his/her acceptance of the purchase order along with the agreement contract and will
submit the Security Deposit as per terms of tender/letter of award.
3.19 Delivery
3.19.1 Delivery time to supply the good to the consignees is stated in the Section V of the Tender
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 54 of 191
Document.
3.19.2 The time for and the date specified in the contract or as extended for the delivery of the
material/services shall be deemed to be the essence of the contract and delivery must be
completed not later than the date(s) so specified or extended:
3.19.3 In case of failure by firm to supply the goods/services within the delivery period stated in the
purchase order, the Purchaser shall be at liberty to extend the delivery period on reasonable
ground for extension of time. Any failure or delay on the part of Sub-Contractor shall be the
sole responsibility of the bidder.
3.20 Liquidated Damages for Delay in Delivery
3.20.1 Any delay by the vendor in the performance of the delivery obligations shall render him/her
liable to any of the following penalties: -
i. In the event of tenderer failure in the Go Live of the operations with acceptable quality
and specifications within the original delivery period given in the purchase order, IRCTC
shall be liberty to recover liquidated damages to be levied @ 1% of the SD per week or
part thereof subject to a maximum of the value of SD.
ii. Encashment of the Security Deposit.
3.20.2 Liquidated damages shall be calculated on the total security deposit. The Go Live shall be
taken as complete only after the User Acceptance Testing.
3.20.3 After a delay of more than 8 weeks, IRCTC reserve the right to cancel the purchase order and
buy the items/ services from any other vendor, at bidder’s risk and cost. Any losses caused to
IRCTC on this account shall be recoverable from the bidder.
3.21 Information Ownership
3.21.1 All information processed, stored, or transmitted by Bidder equipment belongs to IRCTC. By
having the responsibility to maintain the equipment, the Bidder does not acquire implicit
access rights to the information or rights to redistribute the information. The Bidder
understands that civil, criminal, or administrative penalties may apply for failure to protect
information appropriately.
3.22 General Requirements
3.22.1 The tenderer must specify Item wise compliance to Technical specifications duly vetted by the
respective OEMs or supported by technical brochures, duly endorsed by OEMs, for the
offered products. The Model and Make of the offered product should be clearly specified.
3.22.2 No change of make or brand will be permitted after issue of purchase order. However, under
extra-ordinary circumstances, viz, closure of Bidder’s business, discontinuation of
brand/product in market, statutory ban on such brand/product, or Government legislation, the
contractor may request in writing to IRCTC, a change in make/brand explaining the reasons in
detail. The alternate brand should be at par or superior to the original offer and the contractor
shall provide unequivocal evidence for “Nil adverse price implication to the purchaser”. IRCTC
shall be at liberty to accept or reject such request without any impact on the contract
conditions.
3.22.3 The tenderer must pass on the standard OEMs’ warranty which comes bundled with the
purchased equipment wherever it is superior to the warranty specified in this tender
document.
3.22.4 The tenderer shall ensure availability of spare and software updates/patches for a period of at
least 05 years from the date of purchase order.
3.22.5 The tenderer along with OEM should make available the offered products, if desired during
technical evaluation of bid for testing and benchmarking at CRIS, New Delhi.
3.22.6 Tenderer has to provide documentary evidence for back-to-back support agreement with the
respective OEM along with the OEM.
3.22.7 The installation of the ordered Systems shall be carried out without disturbing the ongoing
working of the existing system.
3.22.8 Detailed designs and drawings required for installation of equipment and the scheme of layout
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 55 of 191
and connections required shall be submitted by the tenderer along with his offer.
3.22.9 Obtaining of licenses in addition to the existing licenses or any other statutory requirement for
installation and working of all equipment shall be responsibility of the tenderer.
3.23 Security Deposit (PBG)
3.23.1 After receipt of purchase order the contractor shall furnish a Security Deposit (SD) from a
Nationalized bank or from a Commercial Bank duly counter-signed by the Reserve Bank of
India/State Bank of India, New Delhi or by any Nationalized Indian Bank as per proforma
attached (Section IV) within 30 days of issue of purchase order for an amount equivalent to
INR1, 66, 60,000.00. SD Bond (PBG) shall remain valid up to a period of 6 months, beyond
the contract period.
3.23.2 Beyond the last date of Warranty period for any goods supplied under the contract. In case of
extension of delivery period, or the warranty period on any account, the contractor shall
extend the period of SD Bond by an equivalent period.
3.23.3 The purchaser shall be entitled and it shall be lawful on his part to forfeit the amount of SD
Bond in whole or in part in the event of any default, failure or neglect on part of the contractor
in fulfilment or performance of the contract in all respect of the contract under reference or
any other contract with the purchaser or any part thereof to the satisfaction of the purchaser
and the purchaser shall be entitled to deduct from the amount of SD Bond any loss or
damage which the purchaser may suffer or be put by any reason of or due to any act or other
default recoverable by the purchaser from the contract. The losses recoverable by the
purchaser from the SD Bond shall include all losses incurred by the purchaser during the
warranty period on account of failure of equipment or delay in attending the equipment by the
contractor during the warranty period as per stipulations of the contract.
3.23.4 The SD Bond will be returned to the contractor without any interest on performance and
completion of the contract which shall include installation, commissioning of complete
equipment to be supplied under the contract and fulfilment of warranty obligations for the
complete equipment in terms of the contract.
3.24 Warranty
3.24.1 Tenderer shall provide comprehensive warranty against all manufacturing defects for a period
of 12 months from the date of complete commissioning or 18 months from the date of
completion of supply of material whichever is minimum for all hardware & system software,
Networking Equipment.
3.24.2 In case of warranty period stated in tender document part-II is longer than 12 months,
warranty shall be applicable for stated period from the date of complete commissioning or
stated warranty period plus 6 months from the date of completion of supply of material.
3.25 Income-Tax
3.25.1 Income tax shall be deducted at source by IRCTC from all the payments made to bidder
according to the Income tax Act, unless bidder prior to release of payment submits valid and
complete documents for Income tax exemption.
3.25.2 A certificate shall be provided by IRCTC to the bidder for any tax deducted at source.
3.26 Intentionally Kept Blank
3.27 Settlement of Disputes/Arbitration and Jurisdiction
3.27.1 The contractor shall not be entitled to make any claim whatsoever against the Purchaser
under or by virtue of or arising out of this contract, nor shall the Purchaser entertain or
consider any such claim if made by the Contractor, after he shall have signed a “No Claim”
certificate in favour of the Purchaser, after the contract is finally completed. The contractor
shall be debarred from disputing the correctness of the items covered by “No claim”
Certificate or demanding a reference of Arbitration in respect thereof.
3.27.2 Matters finally determined by the Purchaser: All disputes and differences of any kind
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 56 of 191
whatsoever arising out of or in connection with the contract, whether during the progress of
the contract or after their completion and whether before or after the termination of the
contract, shall be referred by the Contractor to the purchaser and the purchaser shall within a
reasonable time period after their presentation make and notify decisions thereon in writing.
The directions, classification, measurements, drawings and certificates with respect to any
matter the decision of which is specifically provided for by these or other special conditions,
given and made by the purchaser, or by the officer on behalf of the purchaser, are matters
which are referred to hereinafter as “Excepted Matters” and shall be final and binding upon
the contractor and shall not be set aside on account of any informality, omission, delay of
error in proceeding in or about the same for any other ground or for any other reason and
shall be without Appeal.
3.27.3 The parties hereto further agree to submit demand in writing that the dispute / differences be
referred to arbitration along with format annexed hereto as Annexure - …. the demand for
arbitration shall specified the matters which are in question, for subject of dispute or
difference as also the amount of claim item wise.
3.27.4 Only such dispute or differences, in respect of which the demand has been made, together
with counter claims of setoff given by IRCTC shall be referred to arbitration and other matters
shall not include in the reference.
3.27.5 Demand for arbitration: In the event of any dispute or difference or differences between the
parties hereto as to the construction or operation of this contract/agreement including validity
thereof, the parties hereto shall endeavour to settle such dispute amicably in the first instance
in accordance with the following matrix.
I. The authorized marketing representatives of each party will discuss and attempt to resolve
the dispute within a period of 30 days from the occurrence of the event.
II. The attempt to bring about an amicable settlement shall be treated as having failed as soon
as one of the parties hereto after following the escalation matrix in the manner set forth
above, gives a notice to this effect, to the other party in writing. Thereafter such dispute shall
be resolved in the matter set forth below:
a) In the case any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this agreement
or any matter or issue arising there from which is unresolved by amicable settlement
(Dispute) it shall be resolved in accordance with Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996.
Such dispute shall be referred to the sole arbitrator to be mutually appointed by the
parties as per the provisions of Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996.
b) In case the parties fail to appoint sole Arbitrator within 30 days, the dispute shall be
referred to a three-member Arbitral Tribunal. One member each shall be appointed by
both the parties. They shall, within 30 days of their appointment, mutually decide on the
name of third Arbitrator. Arbitration proceedings shall be deemed to commence in
accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation act 1996. The award of the Arbitrator
shall be final and binding on the parties to this agreement. The venue of the Arbitration
shall be New Delhi. The fees and expenses of the sole arbitrator or the Arbitration
tribunal, as the case may be, and all other expenses of the arbitration shall be borne &
shared by the parties and the arbitration fee shall be paid as per IRCTC Circular dated
28.10.2019.
3.27.6 The venue of arbitration shall be at New Delhi.
3.27.7 The jurisdiction for settlement of any disputes through Court under this contract shall be at
Delhi only.
3.28 Force Majeure
3.28.1 If at any time, during the continuance of this contract, the performance in whole or in part by
either party or any obligation under this contract shall be prevented or delayed by reason of
any war, or hostility, acts of the public enemy, civil commotion, sabotage, fires, floods,
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 57 of 191
explosions, epidemics/pandemics, quarantine restriction, strikes, lockouts or act of God
(hereinafter referred to as events) provided notice of happenings of any such eventuality is
given by either party to the other within 21 days from the date of occurrence thereof, neither
party shall by reason of such event be entitled to terminate this contract nor shall either party
have any such claim for damages against the other in respect of such non-performance or
delay in performance, and deliveries under the contract shall be resumed as soon as
practicable after such event may come to an end or cease to exist and the decision of the
purchaser as to whether the deliveries have been so resumed or not shall be final and
conclusive provided further that if the performance in whole or part of any obligation under
this contract is prevented or delayed by reason of any such event for a period exceeding 60
days either party may at his option, terminate the contract provided also that if the contract is
terminated under this clause, the Purchaser shall be at liberty to take over from the
Successful tenderer at a price to be fixed by the purchaser with mutual consent which shall be
final. All unused, undamaged and acceptable materials bought out components and stores in
course of manufacture in possession of the Successful tenderer at the time of such
termination of such portions thereof as the purchaser may deem fit excepting such materials
bought out components and goods as the Successful tenderer may with the concurrence of
the Purchaser select to retain.
3.29 Evaluation of Offers
Two bid tenders:
3.29.1 The Technical bids shall be opened first on the prescribed tender opening date and price bid
shall be opened later, on a specified date which would be made known to the technically
suitable tendering firms after technical evaluation has been completed so as to ensure that all
offers are evaluated technically without bias.
3.29.2 For deciding inter-se position at the time of commercial evaluation, the prices of original price
bid shall normally be considered. However, supplementary commercial bid prices shall also
be taken into consideration for deciding the inter-se position in case of revised/upgraded
specification/items whose revised prices have been called for from bidders. Final selection will
be made on the basis of lowest cost from amongst the technically suitable bids for which the
commercial bids are opened.
3.30 Integrity Pact
3.30.1 Integrity Pact will cover all stages of the contract i.e., from the stage of NIT to the stage of last
payment or a still later stage covered through warranty/guarantee.
3.30.2 Two Independent External Monitors (IEMs) have been appointed by IRCTC after approval of
CVC. The IEMs would be monitoring the contracts. There will be a provision in the contract
which would bind both the parties signing the Integrity Pact, to the recommendations of the
IEM, if any complaint regarding the contract is found substantiated.
3.30.3 A copy of the Integrity Pact to be signed is placed in Annexures at Section IV.
3.30.4 Bidder will have to sign integrity pact by affixing his signature on each page of the pre signed
copy of integrity pact for that tender, which will be a part of tender documents.
3.30.5 Any bids received without integrity pact signed by bidder shall be summarily rejected.
3.31 Management Phase
3.31.1 Governance
a. The review and management process of this Agreement shall be carried out in accordance
with the Governance Schedule set out in Schedule IV of this Agreement and shall cover all
the management aspects of the Project.
3.31.2 Use of services
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 58 of 191
a. IRCTC as the case may be or its nominated agencies, will undertake and use the Services in
accordance with any instructions or procedures as per the acceptance criteria as set out in
out in the SLA or this Agreement or any agreement that may be entered into between the
Parties from time to time;
b. IRCTC as the case may be or its nominated agencies shall be responsible for the operation
and use of the Deliverables resulting from the Services.
3.31.3 Changes
a. Unless expressly dealt with elsewhere in this Agreement, any changes under or to this
Agreement or under or to the SLA shall be dealt with in accordance with the Change Control
Schedule set out in Schedule I of this Agreement.
3.31.4 Security and Safety
a. The MSP shall comply with the technical requirements of the relevant security, safety and
other requirements specified in the Information Technology Act or Telegraph Act including the
regulations issued by dept. of telecom (wherever applicable), IT Security Manual of IRCTC as
specifically stated in the RFP and follow the best industry standards related to safety and
security (including those as stated in the RFP), insofar as it applies to the provision of the
Services.
b. Each Party to the SLA/Agreement shall also comply with IRCTC or the Government of India,
and the respective State’s security standards and policies in force from time to time at each
location of which IRCTC or its nominated agencies make the MSP aware in writing insofar as
the same apply to the provision of the Services.
c. The Parties to the SLA/Agreement shall use reasonable endeavours to report forthwith in
writing to each other all identified attempts (whether successful or not) by unauthorized
persons (including unauthorized persons who are employees of any Party) either to gain
access to or interfere with the IRCTC as the case may be or any of their nominees data,
facilities or Confidential Information.
d. The Managed Service Partners shall upon reasonable request by the IRCTC as the case may
be or their nominee(s) participate in regular meetings when safety and information technology
security matters are reviewed.
e. As per the provisions of the SLA or this Agreement, the Managed Service Partners shall
promptly report in writing to the IRCTC or its nominated agencies, any act or omission which
they are aware that could have an adverse effect on the proper conduct of safety and
information technology security at the facilities of IRCTC as the case may be.
3.31.5 Cooperation
Except as otherwise provided elsewhere in this Agreement or the SLA, each Party (“Providing
Party”) to this Agreement or to the SLA undertakes promptly to provide the other Party
(“Receiving Party”) with all such information and co-operation which the Receiving Party
reasonably requests, provided that such information and co-operation:
a. does not require material expenditure by the Providing Party to provide the same;
b. is reasonably required by the Receiving Party in order for it to comply with its obligations
under this Agreement or the SLA;
c. cannot be construed to be Confidential Information; and
d. is capable of being provided by the Providing Party.
Further, each Party agrees to co-operate with the contractors and subcontractors of the other
Party as reasonably requested in order to accomplish the purposes of this Agreement.
3.32 Audit, Access and Reporting
3.32.1 The MSP shall allow access to IRCTC or its nominated agencies to all information which is in
the possession or control of the MSP and which relates to the provision of the Services as set
out in the Audit, Access and Reporting Schedule and which is reasonably required by IRCTC
to comply with the terms of the Audit, Access and Reporting Schedule set out as Schedule III
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 59 of 191
of this Agreement.
3.33 Assignment
3.33.1 Any assignment of any rights hereunder, in any manner, by operation of law or otherwise,
without the prior written consent of IRCTC, shall be void. Any such consent shall not relieve
the Bidder from its obligations under the RFP.
3.33.2 The Bidder shall not give, bargain, sell, assign or sublet or otherwise dispose-off the Proposal
or any part thereof, or the benefit or advantage of being the selected Bidder/Vendor or any
part thereof, to any third party.
3.34 Illegal Gratification
3.34.1 The Bidder shall not directly or indirectly (whether directly or through its Associates, agent or
servant or anyone on its behalf) offer or give any bribe, commission, gift or give any
advantage, promise or offer, to any officer or employee of the Purchaser, or to any person on
its behalf in relation to obtaining or execution of the Agreement or any other contract with the
Purchaser.
3.34.2 Any bribe, commission, gift or advantage given, promised or offered by or on behalf of the
bidder or its Associates, agent or servant or, anyone on its behalf, to any officer or employee
of the Purchaser, or to any person on its behalf in relation to obtaining or execution of the
Agreement or any other contract with the Purchaser shall, in addition to any criminal liability
which the Bidder may incur, subject the Bidder to the rescission of the Agreement and all
other contracts with the Purchaser and to the payment of any loss or damage resulting from
such decision and the Purchaser shall be entitled to deduct the amounts so payable from any
money due to the Bidder under the Agreement or any other contract with the Purchaser.
3.34.3 The Bidder shall not lend or borrow from or have or enter into any monetary dealings or
transactions either directly or indirectly with any employee of the Purchaser and if the bidder
shall do so, the Purchaser shall be entitled forthwith to rescind the contract and all other
contracts with the Purchaser.
3.34.4 The Bidder is required to co-ordinate and follow up with the Purchaser’s Representative and
other contractors/bidder, except as may be expressly excused in the Agreement and no delay
or failure to perform on the part of the Purchaser (or its vendors, other contractors and/or
Bidders) shall excuse the bidder from the timely performance of its obligations under the
Agreement.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 60 of 191
4 Special Conditions of the Contract (SCC)
4.1 General
a) Tenure of Contract: The tenure of the contract shall be for a period of five years (with a
lock-in period of 1 year).
b) Extension of contract: The contract may be further extended for a period of two more
years or part thereof at the sole discretion of IRCTC subject to the same terms and condition
of the tender document.
c) IRCTC reserves the right to amend this Tender or its terms and any information contained
herein or to cancel the Bidding Process at any time by notice, in writing, to the Bidders.
Further, it may in no event be assumed that there shall be no deviation or change in any of
the herein-mentioned information.
d) Bidders: The Bids for this contract will be considered only from those Bidders i.e.
proprietorship firms, partnership firms, companies, corporations, HUF, start-up, MSME firms
etc. who meet the requisite eligibility criteria.
I. Any Central Government department/Ministry of Railways must not have banned
business with the Bidder as on the date to Bid submission.
II. The Bidder should not have suffered bankruptcy/insolvency during last 5 years and
must submit an undertaking to this effect as part of the bid.
e) Indemnities and Liabilities: The bidder shall indemnify and protect the IRCTC from and
against all the actions, suits, proceedings losses, costs, damages, charges, claims and
demands of every nature and description brought against or recovered from IRCTC/Railways
by reasons of any act or omission of the contractor, his agents or employees, in the execution
of the works or in the guarding of the same.
Total financial liabilities of the bidder arising out of breach of contractual obligations shall not
exceed the value of contract and shall be limited to the direct damages. However, any
liabilities arising out of breach of any obligations commonly applicable in the Indian or
International law or regulation or Intellectual property right infringements etc. shall not be
limited by this agreement and the bidder shall be solely and completely responsible for any
such violation on this part.
4.2 Term and Duration of the agreement
4.2.1 This Agreement shall come into effect on the date of signing of the agreement between two
parties (hereinafter the ‘Effective Date’) and shall continue till five years post go live of the
IRHES 139 or unless terminated earlier (as per clause 4.9), in which case the contract will get
terminated on fulfilment of all obligations mentioned as per clause 4.9 and Schedule II.
4.3 Payment Terms
4.3.1 Payment shall be done on a quarterly basis based on the invoice generated and
monthly/weekly reports. Penalties shall be levied if applicable based on the SLA clauses
4.3.2 Penalties shall not exceed 100% of the quarterly bill. If the penalties exceed more than 50%
of the total bill, it will result in a material breach. In case of a material breach, the operator will
be given a cure period of one month to rectify the breach failing which a notice to terminate
may be issued by the Department
4.3.3 Total SLA penalty applicable shall be capped attotal value of the Security Deposit.
4.3.4 Penalties shall not exceed 100% of the quarterly bill. In case, the SLA penalty levied on any
bidder exceeds 20% of the invoice value for 3 consecutive quarters, it will result in a material
breach. In case of a material breach, the operator will be given a cure period of one month to
rectify the breach failing which a notice to terminate may be issued by the Department
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 61 of 191
4.3.5 Payment shall be made on the basis of total number of calls received in the quarter by the
bidder. Price of per call shall be quoted by the bidder in the financial quote which will remain
applicable for the full duration of the project
4.3.6 The Call Centre Service Provider shall be paid for the connected calls ONLY. Not reachable
and not connected calls shall not be paid for.
4.3.7 Any inbound call with less than 10 seconds talk time (short calls) will not be considered for
invoicing.
4.3.8 Advance payments will not be made.
4.3.9 The payments shall be released to the bidder on submission of documents as below:
i) Bills (Invoices) in duplicate of quarterly service
ii) Confirmation of the validity of SD Bond for a period up to 3 months beyond the last date of
contract period.
iii) Inspection certificate/ Satisfactory services report in original as applicable from Project
Manager
iv) Certificate for SLA measurement/ verification
v) For every 4th quarter of the years, in addition to the documents as mentioned above, the
bidder shall also submit:
a. Updated Functional Specifications of the IRHES 139 system.
b. Deployment Architecture Details covering the complete IRHES 139 ecosystem.
c. Change Request Document covering all such requests in the preceding quarter along
with actions taken on the changes. This shall include the functional requirements,
business logic details and deployment architecture details. (only if applicable)
4.3.10 Service level monitoring must be computed automatically in the SLA monitoring tool of the call
centre service provider and access to be provided to IRCTC at all times on real time basis.
4.3.11 Access to all recorded calls in call centre service provider’s system must be provided to
IRCTC officials. All service levels, payment calculation, call details (duration and volume)
must be generated as a record from the SLA monitoring tool of the call centre service provider
only with access of the same to IRCTC officials.
4.3.12 The total monthly call duration & number of inbound calls submitted by the Call Centre
Service Provider (CCSP) shall be verified with the Call Detail Record (CDR) of Telephone
number service provider (TSP). The total monthly duration and number of calls submitted by
Call Centre Service Provider shall not exceed the total monthly duration and number of calls
submitted by Telephone number service provider (TSP). The Call Centre Service Provider
should ensure that more than 90% of the calls are attended. The same should be verified by
the telecom service provider.
4.3.13 Payment for each of the services / works to the bidder shall be made quarterly on the basis of
SLA performance and submission of the documents as detailed above. No other payments
except mentioned in the price bid shall be payable for the services.
I. General Term:It is bidder’s responsibility to comply with all tax related laws, payment of
GST as applicable for all payments made to IRCTC.
a. IRCTC shall issue a Letter of Award (LOA) to the successful bidder.
b. Time period of signing of contract between two parties = 1 months from LOA
c. If all dues are not made within 1 months from the issue of LOA, IRCTC reserves the
right to cancel the contract.
d. IRCTC reserves the right to recover any outstanding dues from the bidder by
adjusting the same against SD of the bidder or any amount payable to the bidder
either under this contract or any other contract.
e. SD shall be provided to IRCTC as per the RFP requirements
f. Payment should be made only through Online Bank transfer.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 62 of 191
g. All prices should be in Indian Rupees and no foreign exchange/import license shall be
provided.
II. Security Deposit as per Financial Bid of Instruction to Bidder.
III. Payment Schedule:
a. Security Deposit (SD) along with Letter of Acceptance should be paid within 1 month
from the issue of LOA.
b. IRCTC/Bidder (as applicable) will raise the invoice on quarterly basis and payment
shall be made by Bidder/IRCTC within 30 days from the date of invoice.
c. Time period to make the system online = 3 months from LOA
d. IRCTC reserves the right of charging interest @ 18% per annum if the payment of SD
is not made within 1 month from LOA.
e. Recovery of outstanding amount: IRCTC reserves the right to recover any outstanding
dues from the bidder by adjusting the same against SD of the bidder or any amount
payable to the bidder either under this contract or any other contract.
f. Mode of Payment: SD shall be provided to IRCTC as per the RFP requirements
g. All prices should be in Indian Rupees and no foreign exchange/import license shall be
provided.
h. Penalty to be realised from bills payable from current quarter bill or next quarter bills
i. Report to be submitted before submission of bills
IV. Payment terms for futuristic provisions related to data monetization and
enhancement:
a. In the future, if the bidder identifies any provision to monetize, improve or optimize
data, then the costs/ revenue generated shall be shared between IRCTC and the
bidder after coming upon a mutual agreement.
4.4 Conditions Governing the Performance of the Contract
4.4.1 All notices to be given on behalf of IRCTC and all other actions to be taken by IRCTC may be
given or taken on behalf of IRCTC by GGM/IT or GGM/Services or any other officers for the
time being entrusted with such functions, duties and powers by IRCTC.
4.4.2 The information provided by the Bidder must be reasonably complete and accurate. IRCTC
reserves the right at all times to disclose any information as IRCTC deems necessary to
satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or Government request after informing
the Bidder of the same.
4.5 Taxes and Other Statutory Dues
4.5.1 The quarterly fees payable under this contract will be exclusive of applicable national, state or
local sales or use taxes or value added tax or service tax or goods and services tax (‘Taxes’)
that IRCTC is legally obligated to charge under the applicable legislation.
4.5.2 If at any time the credit for Taxes is denied to IRCTC or payment of Taxes is sought from
bidder due to, but not limited to, issuance of a deficient invoice, or default in payment of
Taxes or non-compliance of applicable laws. The bidder shall pay the applicable GST to
IRCTC which IRCTC shall pay to Government of India.
4.5.3 If at any time the credit for Taxes is denied to IRCTC or payment of Taxes is sought from
bidder due to IRCTC, but not limited to deficient TDS certificate, or default in payment of TDS
or noncompliance of applicable laws and regulations by bidder.
4.5.4 Bidder may deduct or withhold any taxes that bidder may be legally obligated to deduct or
withhold from any amounts payable to IRCTC under this contract, and payment to IRCTC as
reduced by such deductions or withholdings will constitute full payment and settlement to
IRCTC of amounts payable under this contract.
4.5.5 Throughout the Tenure of this contract, Bidder/IRCTC will provide IRCTC/Bidder with any
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 63 of 191
forms, documents, or certifications, including PAN/GSTIN as may be required for bidder to
satisfy any information reporting or withholding tax obligations with respect to any payments
under this contract.
4.6 Non-Disclosure Agreement
4.6.1 Bidder should maintain the confidentiality & security of the data and should also provide the
consent and adhere to the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) provided by IRCTC, placed at
Section 5.13.
4.7 Lock-In Period
4.7.1 The one year of the Term from launch date shall be considered as lock-in period (“Lock in
Period”), where no parties shall terminate the agreement.
4.8 Termination by either Party
4.8.1 IRCTC reserves right to terminate this contract by giving a 3 months' notice to the Bidder,
post lock-in period and in the aforesaid event, IRCTC will be liable to return the Security
deposit after recovering the dues, if any.
4.8.2 Bidder with the approval of IRCTC can withdraw from this contract by giving 6 months' notice
to the IRCTC with suitable reasons, post lock-in period and in the aforesaid event, IRCTC will
be liable to return the Security deposit after recovering the dues, if any.
4.9 Termination of Contract
a) In the event of default, IRCTC may issue a notice of 15 days to remedy or make good such
breach in spite of such notice in writing, if Bidder fails to remedy the breach reasonably, it
shall be lawful for the IRCTC to terminate the contract with forfeiture of Security deposit. The
licensee should be debarred from participating in Tenders floated by IRCTC during the whole
1 year. The decision of IRCTC shall be final and binding on the bidder.
b) IRCTC shall be entitled to terminate the contract forthwith without any notice in case of
serious and repeated defaults.
4.9.1 IRCTC may, without prejudice, to any other remedy for breach of contract, by written notice of
default sent to the vendor terminate the contract in whole or part thereof if:
i. The selected Bidder commits a breach of any of the terms and conditions of the bid.
ii. The Bidder goes into liquidation, voluntarily or otherwise.
iii. An attachment is levied or continues to be levied for a period of seven days upon effects of
the bid.
iv. If the selected Bidder fails to complete the assignment as per the timelines prescribed in
the RFP and the extension if any allowed, it will be a breach of contract. The Purchaser
reserves its right to cancel the order in the event of delay and forfeit the bid security as
liquidated damages for the delay.
v. If deductions of account of liquidated damages exceeds more than the maximum SD.
vi. If the bidder becomes insolvent or goes into liquidation, bankruptcy or receivership,
whether compulsory or voluntary, then the purchaser has the right to terminate any part of
or the entire contract
vii. If, as the result of Force Majeure, the bidderis unable to perform a material portion of the
Services for a period of not less than sixty (60) days, then the purchaser has the right to
terminate any part of or the entire contract
viii. If the bidder, in the judgment of the purchaser has engaged in corrupt or fraudulent
practices in competing for or in executing the Contract.
ix. If the bidder submits to the purchaser a false statement which has a material effect on the
rights, obligations or interests of the purchaser.
x. If the bidder places itself in position of conflict of interest or fails to disclose promptly any
conflict of interest to the purchaser.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 64 of 191
xi. If the bidder has been blacklisted by the purchaser or any other government agency or
disqualified for any reason.
xii. If the bidder fails to comply with the following:
a. The bidder shall protect from unauthorized access, loss or damage and also keep safe,
secure and confidential all demographic information, all documents, data and
information of any nature provided to the bidder for the discharge of services.
b. The bidder shall not store, copy, publish, print, interfere, tamper with or manipulate the
information/data received from IRCTC, other than required for discharge of services.
c. The bidder shall not give access to the information or data collected and received from
IRCTC in the course of discharge of services, to any person who is not authorized to
handle the information or data. Information should only be given to authorized
personnel and only used in the manner prescribed by IRCTC.
xiii. In the event of bidder is found:
a. Sub-contracting of work/services of IRCTC not allowed under this RFP except Cloud
Service Provider
b. Provided incorrect information to IRCTC.
c. Non-co-operative during audits conducted by IRCTC or auditing agencies appointed for
the purpose.
xiv. If the bidder fails to comply with any final decision reached as a result of arbitration
proceedings pursuant to Clause4.10 hereof.
xv. In case the selected Bidder fails to deliver the quantity as stipulated in the delivery
schedule, Purchaser reserves the right to procure the same or similar product from
alternate sources at the risk, cost and responsibility of the selected Bidder.
xvi. After award of the contract, if the selected Bidder does not perform satisfactorily or delays
execution of the contract, Purchaser reserves the right to get the balance contract
executed by another party of its choice by giving one month’s notice for the same. In this
event, the selected Bidder is bound to make good the additional expenditure, which
Purchaser may have to incur in executing the balance contract. This clause is applicable, if
for any reason, the contract is cancelled.
xvii. Purchaser reserves the right to recover any dues payable by the selected Bidder from any
amount outstanding to the credit of the selected Bidder, including the pending bills and/or
invoking the bank guarantee under this contract.
4.9.2 Bidder and IRCTC have agreed that upon expiry or termination of this project, both parties
shall pay the other amounts due and payable at the date of termination. Payment shall be
made within a maximum period of 45 days.
4.10 Intentionally Kept Blank
4.11 Corrupt Practices
4.11.1 Bidder is expected to observe the highest standard of ethics during the execution of this
contract. If Bidder has engaged in corrupt or fraudulent practices, in competing for or in
executing the contract, IRCTC may, after given 15 days’ notice to Bidder, terminate the
contract. In pursuit of this project, IRCTC:
I. Defines, for the purpose of this provision, the terms set forth below as follows: a. “corrupt practice” means the offering, giving, receiving or soliciting or anything of value to
influence the action in the procurement process or in contract execution; and
b. “Fraudulent practices” means a misrepresentation of facts in order to influence a
procurement process or the execution of a contract to the detriment of IRCTC.
4.12 Breach of Contract 4.12.1 Any breach of the terms & conditions by Bidder, or any one employed by him or acting on his
behalf (whether with or without the knowledge of Bidder) or the committing of any offence by
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 65 of 191
Bidder, or any one employed by him or acting on his behalf under Chapter IX of the Indian
Penal Code, 1860 or the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 or any other act enacted for the
prevention of corruption by public servants shall entitle IRCTC to terminate the contract
forthwith and all or any other contracts with Bidder and to recover from Bidder the amount of
any loss arising from such cancellation.
4.13 Intellectual Property 4.13.1 The intellectual property rights to all the outputs, deliverables, data, reports, etc. developed
during the execution of this Contract shall remain sole property of the IRCTC.
4.13.2 Each Party acknowledges that, as between the Parties, the other Party owns all right, title and
interest in and to such other Party’s IPR, whether presently existing or later developed by
such other Party. Nothing herein shall give either Party any right, title or interest in any of the
other Party’s IPR, or, except as provided herein, any right to use any of the other Party’s IPR
in any manner. For the purpose of this clause, “IPR” means intellectual property rights
including, but not limited to, patents, copyrights, designs, trademarks, service marks, data,
know-how, trade secrets, trade names, inventions, whether registered, unregistered and any
applications for the same.
4.13.3 The IPR of each Party shall, at all times during the term of this project and thereafter, remain
the sole and exclusive property of that respective Party. Either Party shall not use any IPR of
the other Party without its prior written permission in relation to any
communication/advertisement. Nothing contained in this project shall constitute an agreement
to transfer or license or to grant IPR of either Party to the other Party.
4.14 Compliance of Laws 4.14.1 It is distinctly understood by the Bidder that the employees engaged in this project will be
deemed to be its employees and Bidder shall be entirely responsible for compliances of all
laws and rules governing employment of such employees. It shall also be the responsibility of
Bidder to comply with all laws, ordinances, rules, byelaws, regulations, notifications,
guidelines, policies, directions, directives, and order of any governmental authority including
municipal authorities.
4.15 Data/ Database
4.15.1 Data/ Database is the exclusive property of IRCTC and the same shall not be used by service
provider for his own benefit.
4.16 Assignment
4.16.1 Other than in the context of an internal restructuring or reorganization of Parties, neither party
may assign any part of this project without the written consent of the other, any other attempt
to transfer or assign is void.
4.17 No Agency 4.17.1 This project does not create an agency, partnership or joint venture between the parties.
4.18 Jurisdiction of Court 4.18.1 The Courts at New Delhi shall have the exclusive jurisdiction in the matter concerned to this
agreement.
4.19 Conflict of Interest 4.19.1 The Bidder shall hold IRCTC’s interest paramount, without any consideration for future work,
and strictly avoid conflict with other assignment or its own corporate interest which is
detrimental to IRCTC.
4.19.2 The Bidder should not be engaged in any such business (excluding any work assigned to it by
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 66 of 191
IRCTC), which has conflict of interest with the Project for which, the bid is being submitted.
4.19.3 Participation by the Bidder with a conflict of interest situation, would be examined by IRCTC,
and appropriate decision would be taken, which may also include disqualification of the bids
in which, it is involved.
4.19.4 IRCTC considers a conflict of interest 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, and that such
conflict of interest may contribute to or constitute a prohibited corrupt practice. A
Bidder/Vendor may be considered to be in a conflict of interest with one or more parties in this
Bidding process if, including but not limited to (a) receive or have received any direct or
indirect subsidy from any of them; or (b) have common controlling shareholders; or (c) have
the same legal representative for purposes of this bid; or (d) have a relationship with each
other, directly or through common third parties, that puts them in a position to have access to
information about or influence on the bid of another Bidder, or influence the decisions of
IRCTC regarding this Bidding process. IRCTC requires that a Bidder participating in this
RFP/bidding, procurement process shall not have a conflict of interest. Any Bidder / Vendor
found to have a conflict of interest in any manner shall be ineligible for award of the contract.
4.20 Access to the IRCTC or Its Nominated Agencies Locations 4.20.1 For so long as the Managed Service Partner provides services to the IRCTC or its nominated
agencies location, as the case may be, on a non-permanent basis and to the extent
necessary, the IRCTC as the case may be or its nominated agencies shall, subject to
compliance by the Managed Service Partner with any safety and security guidelines which
may be provided by the IRCTC as the case may be or its nominated agencies and notified to
the Managed Service Partner in writing, provide the Managed Service Partner with:
a. reasonable access, in the same manner granted to the IRCTC or its nominated agencies
employees, to the IRCTC as the case may be location twenty-four hours a day, seven
days a week;
b. reasonable work space, access to office equipment as mutually agreed and other related
support services in such location and at such other the IRCTC as the case may be
location, if any, as may be reasonably necessary for the Managed Service Partner to
perform its obligations hereunder and under the SLA.
4.20.2 Access to locations, office equipment and services shall be made available to the Managed
Service Partner by the IRCTC as the case may be or its nominated agencies. The Managed
Service Partner agrees to ensure that its employees, agents and contractors shall not use the
location, services and equipment referred to in RFP for the following purposes:
a. for the transmission of any material which is defamatory, offensive or abusive or of an
obscene or menacing character; or
b. in a manner which constitutes a violation or infringement of the rights of any person, firm or
company (including but not limited to rights of copyright or confidentiality).
4.21 Conditions and Precedent Effective Date 4.21.1 Provisions to take effect upon fulfilment of Conditions Precedent
Subject to express terms to the contrary, the rights and obligations under this Agreement shall
take effect only upon fulfilment of all the Conditions Precedent set out below. However,
IRCTC or its
Nominated agencies may at any time at its sole discretion waive fully or partially any of the
Conditions
Precedent for the Managed Service Partners. For the avoidance of doubt, it is expressly
clarified that the obligations of the Parties (or its nominated agencies) under this Agreement
shall commence from the fulfilment of the Conditions Precedent as set forth below.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 67 of 191
4.21.2 Conditions Precedent of the Implementing Agency
The Managed Service Partners shall be required to fulfil the Conditions Precedent in which is
as follows:
a. to provide a Performance Security/Guarantee and other guarantees/ payments within 30
days of the receipt of notification of award from the IRCTC; and
b. to provide the IRCTC or its nominated agencies certified true copies of its constitutional
documents and board resolutions authorizing the execution, delivery and performance of
this Agreement by the Managed Service Partners (optional).
4.21.3 Conditions Precedent of the IRCTC
The IRCTC shall be required to fulfil the Conditions Precedents which are as follows:
a. Handing over of <project office> (if applicable)
b. Necessary clearances associated with the execution of the project, unless specified to be
performed by the MSP
c. Approval of the Project by a Competent Authority, etc.
4.21.4 Extension of time for fulfilment of Conditions Precedent
The Parties may, by mutual agreement extend the time for fulfilling the Conditions Precedent
and the Term of this Agreement.
4.21.5 Non-fulfilment of the Managed Service Partners’ Conditions Precedent
a. In the event that any of the Conditions Precedent of the Managed Service Partners have not
been fulfilled within 15 days of signing of this Agreement and the same have not been waived
fully or partially by IRCTC or its nominated agencies, this Agreement shall cease to exist;
b. In the event that the Agreement fails to come into effect on account of nonfulfillment of the
Managed Service Partners’ Conditions Precedent, the IRCTC or its nominated agencies shall
not be liable in any manner whatsoever to the Managed Service Partners and the IRCTC
shall forthwith take action as per EMD Performa/Bid Securing Declaration.
c. In the event that possession of any of the IRCTC or its nominated agencies facilities has
been delivered to the Managed Service Partners prior to the fulfilment of the Conditions
Precedent, upon the termination of this Agreement such shall immediately revert to IRCTC or
its nominated agencies, free and clear from any encumbrances or claims.
4.22 Obligations under SLA
4.22.1 The SLA shall be a separate contract in respect of this Agreement as per Schedule V and
shall be entered into concurrently with this Agreement between IRCTC and Managed Service
Partners;
4.22.2 In relation to any future SLA entered into between the Parties; each of the Parties shall
observe and perform the obligations set out herein.
4.22.3 Change of Control
a. In the event of a change of control of the Managed Service Partners during the Term, the
Managed Service Partners shall promptly notify IRCTC and/or its nominated agencies of the
same in the format set out as Schedule I –format for CCN of this Agreement.
b. In the event that the net worth of the surviving entity is less than that of Managed Service
Partners prior to the change of control, the IRCTC or its nominated agencies may within 30
days of becoming aware of such change in control, require a replacement of existing
Performance Guarantee furnished by the Managed Service Partners from a guarantor
acceptable to the IRCTC or its nominated agencies (which shall not be Managed Service
Partners or any of its associated entities).
c. If such a guarantee is not furnished within 30 days of the IRCTC or its nominated agencies
requiring the replacement, the IRCTC may exercise its right to terminate the SLA and/ or this
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 68 of 191
Agreement within a further 30 days by written notice, to become effective as specified in such
notice.
d. Pursuant to termination, the effects of termination as set out in Clause 4.9 of this Agreement
shall follow.
For the avoidance of doubt, it is expressly clarified that the internal reorganization of the
Managed Service Partners shall not be deemed an event of a change of control for purposes
of this Clause unless the surviving entity is of less net worth than the predecessor entity.
4.22.4 Final Testing and certifications
The Project shall be governed by the mechanism of final acceptance testing and certification
to be put into place by the IRCTC and Managed Service Partners as under:
a. Final testing and certification criteria will lay down a set of guidelines following internationally
accepted norms and standards for testing and certification for all aspects of project
development and implementation covering software, hardware and networking including the
processes relating to the design of solution architecture, design of systems and sub- systems,
coding, testing, business process description, documentation, version control, change
management, security, service oriented architecture, performance in relation to compliance
with SLA metrics, interoperability, scalability, availability and compliance with all the technical
and functional requirements of the RFP and this Agreement;
b. Final testing and certification criteria will be finalized from the development stage to ensure
that the guidelines are being followed and to avoid large scale modifications pursuant to
testing done after the application is fully developed;
c. Final testing and certification criteria will consider conducting specific tests on the software,
hardware, networking, security and all other aspects;
d. Final testing and certification criteria will establish appropriate processes for notifying the
Managed Service Partners of any deviations from the norms, standards or guidelines at the
earliest instance after taking cognizance of the same to enable the Managed Service Partners
to take corrective action; etc.
The Parties shall each ensure that the range of the Services under the SLA shall not be
varied, reduced or increased except with the prior written agreement between the IRCTC and
Managed Service Partners in accordance with the Change Control Schedule set out in
Schedule I of this Agreement. Save for the express terms of the Terms of Payment as set out
in this Agreement, IRCTC or its nominated agencies and its users may purchase any
particular category of Services that may become necessary as per the Change Control
Schedule set out in Schedule I of this Agreement, without the need to go for a separate
procurement process.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 69 of 191
SCHEDULE I: Change Control Schedule
1.1 Introducing a Change
1.1.1 The IRCTC shall have the right to propose, and subsequently require, the Project Manager to
order the Bidder from time to time during the performance of the Contract to make any
change, modification, addition, or deletion to, in, or from the System (interchangeably called
Change), provided that such Change falls within the general scope of the System, does not
constitute unrelated work, and is technically practicable, taking into account both the state of
advancement of the System and the technical compatibility of the Change envisaged with the
nature of the System as originally specified in the Contract. A Change may involve, but is not
restricted to, the substitution of updated Information Technologies and related Services in
accordance with system/product Upgrades.
1.1.2 The Bidder may from time to time during its performance of the Contract propose to the
IRCTC (with a copy to the Project Manager) any Change that the Bidder considers necessary
or desirable to improve the quality or efficiency of the System. IRCTC may at its discretion
approve or reject any Change proposed by the Bidder.
1.1.3 Notwithstanding Clauses 1.1.1. and 1.1.2 of Schedule I of this document, no change made
necessary because of any default of the Bidder in the performance of its obligations under the
Contract shall be deemed to be a Change, and such change shall not result in any extra cost
or Time for Achieving Operational Acceptance.
1.1.4 The procedure on how to proceed with and execute Changes is specified below.
1.1.5 Moreover, IRCTC and Bidder will agree, during development of the Project Plan, to a date
prior to the scheduled date for Operational Acceptance, after which the Technical
Requirements for the System shall be frozen. Any major Change initiated after this time will
be dealt with after Operational Acceptance.
1.2 Changes originating from IRCTC
1.2.1 If IRCTC proposes a Change pursuant to Clause 1.1.1 above, it shall send to the Bidder a
request for Change Proposal, requiring the Bidder to prepare and furnish to the Project
Manager as soon as reasonably practicable a Change Proposal, which shall include the
following:
brief description of the Change;
impact on the Time for Achieving Operational Acceptance;
detailed estimated cost of the Change;
effect on Functional Guarantees (if any);
Effect on any other provisions of the Contract.
1.2.2 Prior to preparing and submitting the Change Proposal, the Bidder shall submit to the Project
Manager a Change Estimate Proposal, which shall be an estimate of the cost of preparing the
Change Proposal, plus a first approximation of the suggested approach and cost for
implementing the changes. Upon receipt of the Bidder’s Change Estimate Proposal, IRCTC
shall do one of the following:
1.2.2.1 Accept the Bidder’s estimate with instructions to the Bidder to proceed with the
preparation of the Change Proposal;
1.2.2.2 Advise the Bidder of any part of its Change Estimate Proposal that is unacceptable and
request the Bidder to review its estimate;
1.2.2.3 Advise the Bidder that the IRCTC does not intend to proceed with the Change.
1.2.3 Upon receipt of the IRCTC’s instruction to proceed under Clause 1.2.2.1, the Bidder shall,
with proper expedition, proceed with the preparation of the Change Proposal, in accordance
with Clause 1.2.1. The Bidder, at its discretion, may specify a validity period for the Change
Proposal, after which if the IRCTC and Bidder has not reached agreement in accordance with
Clause 1.2.5, then Clause 1.2.6 shall apply.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 70 of 191
1.2.4 The pricing of any Change shall, as far as practicable, be calculated in accordance with the
rates and prices included in the Contract. If the nature of the Change is such that the Contract
rates and prices are inequitable, the parties to the Contract shall agree on other specific rates
to be used for valuing the Change. In this context, IRCTC decision will be final.
1.2.5 Upon receipt of the Change Proposal, the IRCTC and the Bidder shall mutually agree upon all
matters contained in the Change Proposal. Within fourteen (14) days after such agreement,
the IRCTC shall, if it intends to proceed with the Change, issue the Bidder a Change Order. If
the IRCTC is unable to reach a decision within fourteen (14) days, it shall notify the Bidder
with details of when the Bidder can expect a decision. If the IRCTC decides not to proceed
with the Change for whatever reason, it shall, within the said period of fourteen (14) days,
notify the Bidder accordingly. Under such circumstances, the Bidder shall not be entitled to
reimbursement of any costs incurred by it in the preparation of the Change Proposal.
1.2.6 If the IRCTC and the Bidder cannot reach agreement on the price for the Change, an
equitable adjustment to the Time for Achieving Operational Acceptance, or any other matters
identified in the Change Proposal, the Change will not be implemented.
1.3 Changes originating from Bidder
1.3.1 If the Bidder proposes a Change pursuant to Clause 1.1.2, the Bidder shall submit to the
Project Manager a written Application for Change Proposal, giving reasons for the proposed
Change and including the information specified in Clause 1.2.1. Upon receipt of the
Application for Change Proposal, the parties shall follow the procedures outlined in Clauses
1.2.5 and 1.2.6. However, should the IRCTC choose not to proceed or the IRCTC and the
Bidder cannot come to agreement on the change during any validity period that the Bidder
may specify in its Application for Change Proposal, the Bidder shall not be entitled to recover
the costs of preparing the Application for Change Proposal, unless subject to an agreement
between the IRCTC and the Bidder to the contrary.
1.4 The Bidder needs to make any changes in software and hardware suggested by the IRCTC or
the Bidder in accordance with clause 1 above. It is expected that any minor changes shall be
carried out by the MSP without any extra cost. In case of substantial change requests, extra
cost estimated for the change shall be paid by the IRCTC separately.
Change Control Notice (CCN) Format
Change Control Note CCN Number
Part A: Initiation
Title:
Originator:
Sponsor:
Date of Initiation:
Details of Proposed Change
(To include reason for change and appropriate details/specifications. Identify any attachments as A1, A2, and A3 etc.)
Authorized by: Date:
Name:
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 71 of 191
Signature: Received by the IP
Date:
Name:
Signature:
Change Control Note CCN Number:
Part B: Evaluation
(Identify any attachments as B1, B2, and B3 etc.) Changes to Services, charging structure, payment profile, documentation, training, service levels and component working arrangements and any other contractual issue.
Brief Description of Solution:
Impact:
Deliverables:
Timetable:
Charges for Implementation: (including a schedule of payments)
Other Relevant Information: (including value-added and acceptance criteria)
Authorized by the Implementation Partner
Date:
Name:
Signature:
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 72 of 191
SCHEDULE II: Exit Management Schedule
1.1 PURPOSE
1.1.1 This Schedule sets out the provisions, which will apply on expiry or termination of the MSA,
the Project Implementation, Operation and Management SLA.
1.1.2 In the case of termination of the Project Implementation and/or Operation and Management,
the Parties shall agree at that time whether, and if so during what period, the provisions of this
Schedule shall apply.
1.1.3 The Parties shall ensure that their respective associated entities carry out their respective
obligations set out in this Exit Management Schedule.
1.2 TRANSFER OF ASSETS
1.2.1 IRCTC shall be entitled to serve notice in writing on the MSP at any time during the exit
management period as detailed hereinabove requiring the MSP and/or its sub-contractors to
provide the IRCTC with a complete and up to date list of the Assets within 30 days of such
notice. IRCTC shall then be entitled to serve notice in writing on the MSP at any time prior to
the date that is 30 days prior to the end of the exit management period requiring the MSP to
sell the Assets, if any, to be transferred to IRCTC or its nominated agencies at book value as
determined as of the date of such notice in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws.
1.2.2 In case of contract being terminated by IRCTC, IRCTC reserves the right to ask MSP to
continue running the project operations for a period of 6 months after termination orders are
issued.
1.2.3 Upon service of a notice under this Article the following provisions shall apply:
i. in the event, if the Assets to be transferred are mortgaged to any financial institutions by
the MSP, the MSP shall ensure that all such liens and liabilities have been cleared beyond
doubt, prior to such transfer. All documents regarding the discharge of such lien and
liabilities shall be furnished to the IRCTC.
ii. All risk in and title to the Assets to be transferred / to be purchased by the IRCTC pursuant
to this Article shall be transferred to IRCTC, on the last day of the exit management period.
iii. IRCTC shall pay to the MSP on the last day of the exit management period such sum
representing the Net Block (procurement price less depreciation as per provisions Of
Companies Act) of the Assets to be transferred as stated in the Terms of Payment
Schedule.
iv. Payment to the outgoing MSP shall be made to the tune of last set of completed services /
deliverables, subject to SLA requirements.
v. The outgoing MSP will pass on to IRCTC and/or to the Replacement MSP, the subsisting
rights in any leased properties/ licensed products on terms not less favourable to IRCTC/
Replacement MSP, than that enjoyed by the outgoing MSP.
1.3 COOPERATION AND PROVISION OF INFORMATION
1.3.1 During the exit management period:
i. The Managed Service Partner will allow the IRCTC or its nominated agency access to
information reasonably required to define the then current mode of operation associated
with the provision of the services to enable the IRCTC to assess the existing services
being delivered;
ii. promptly on reasonable request by the IRCTC, the MSP shall provide access to and
copies of all information held or controlled by them which they have prepared or
maintained in accordance with this agreement relating to any material aspect of the
services (whether provided by the Managed Service Partner or sub-contractors appointed
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 73 of 191
by the Managed Service Partner). The IRCTC shall be entitled to copy of all such
information. Such information shall include details pertaining to the services rendered and
other performance data. The Managed Service Partner shall permit the IRCTC or its
nominated agencies to have reasonable access to its employees and facilities as
reasonably required by the Chairman, PIU to understand the methods of delivery of the
services employed by the Managed Service Partner and to assist appropriate knowledge
transfer.
1.4 CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION, SECURITY AND DATA
1.4.1 The Managed Service Partner will promptly on the commencement of the exit management
period supply to the IRCTC or its nominated agency the following:
i. information relating to the current services rendered and customer and performance data
relating to the performance of sub-contractors in relation to the services;
ii. documentation relating to Computerization Project’s Intellectual Property Rights;
iii. documentation relating to sub-contractors;
iv. all current and updated data as is reasonably required for purposes of IRCTC or its
nominated agencies transitioning the services to its Replacement Managed Service Partner
in a readily available format nominated by the IRCTC, its nominated agency;
v. all other information (including but not limited to documents, records and agreements)
relating to the services reasonably necessary to enable IRCTC or its nominated agencies, or
its Replacement Managed Service Partner to carry out due diligence in order to transition
the provision of the Services to IRCTC or its nominated agencies, or its Replacement
Managed Service Partner (as the case may be).
1.4.2 Before the expiry of the exit management period, the Managed Service Partner shall deliver
to the IRCTC or its nominated agency all new or up-dated materials from the categories set
out in Schedule above and shall not retain any copies thereof, except that the Managed
Service Partner shall be permitted to retain one copy of such materials for archival purposes
only.
1.4.3 Before the expiry of the exit management period, unless otherwise provided under the MSA,
the IRCTC or its nominated agency shall deliver to the Managed Service Partner all forms of
Managed Service Partner confidential information, which is in the possession or control of
Chairperson, PIU or its users.
1.5 EMPLOYEES
1.5.1 The Promptly on reasonable request at any time during the exit management period, the
Managed Service Partner shall, subject to applicable laws, restraints and regulations
(including in particular those relating to privacy) provide to the IRCTC or its nominated agency
a list of all employees (with job titles) of the Managed Service Partner dedicated to providing
the services at the commencement of the exit management period.
1.5.2 The Promptly on reasonable request where any national, regional law or regulation relating to
the mandatory or automatic transfer of the contracts of employment from the Managed
Service Partner to the IRCTC or its nominated agency, or a Replacement Managed Service
Partner ("Transfer Regulation") applies to any or all of the employees of the Managed Service
Partner, then the Parties shall comply with their respective obligations under such Transfer
Regulations.
1.6 TRANSFER OF CERTAIN AGREEMENTS
1.6.1 On request by the IRCTC or its nominated agency the Managed Service Partner shall effect
such assignments, transfers, licences and sub-licences as the Chairperson, PIU may require
in favour of the Chairperson, PIU, or its Replacement Managed Service Partner in relation to
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 74 of 191
any equipment lease, maintenance or service provision agreement between Managed
Service Partner and third party lessors, vendors, and which are related to the services and
reasonably necessary for the carrying out of replacement services by the IRCTC or its
nominated agency or its Replacement Managed Service Partner.
1.7 RIGHTS OF ACCESS TO PREMISES
1.7.1 At any time during the exit management period, where Assets are located at the Managed
Service Partner's premises, the Managed Service Partner will be obliged to give reasonable
rights of access to (or, in the case of Assets located on a third party's premises, procure
reasonable rights of access to) the IRCTC or its nominated agency and/or any Replacement
Managed Service Partner in order to make an inventory of the Assets.
1.7.2 At any time, The Managed Service Partner shall also give the IRCTC or its nominated agency
or its nominated agencies, or any Replacement Managed Service Partner right of reasonable
access to the Implementation Partner's premises and shall procure the IRCTC or its
nominated agency or its nominated agencies and any Replacement Managed Service Partner
rights of access to relevant third party premises during the exit management period and for
such period of time following termination or expiry of the MSA as is reasonably necessary to
migrate the services to the IRCTC or its nominated agency, or a Replacement Managed
Service Partner.
1.8 GENERAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE MANAGED SERVICE PARTNER
1.8.1 At any time, The Managed Service Partner shall provide all such information as may
reasonably be necessary to effect as seamless a handover as practicable in the
circumstances to the IRCTC or its nominated agency or its Replacement Managed Service
Partner and which the Managed Service Partner has in its possession or control at any time
during the exit management period.
1.8.2 For the purposes of this Schedule, anything in the possession or control of any Managed
Service Partner, associated entity, or sub-contractor is deemed to be in the possession or
control of the Managed Service Partner.
1.8.3 The Managed Service Partner shall commit adequate resources to comply with its obligations
under this Exit Management Schedule.
1.9 EXIT MANAGEMENT PLAN
1.9.1 The Managed Service Partner shall provide the IRCTC or its nominated agency with a
recommended exit management plan ("Exit Management Plan") which shall deal with at least
the following aspects of exit management in relation to the MSA as a whole and in relation to
the Project Implementation, and the Operation and Management SLA.
i. A detailed program of the transfer process that could be used in conjunction with a
Replacement Managed Service Partner including details of the means to be used to
ensure continuing provision of the services throughout the transfer process or until the
cessation of the services and of the management structure to be used during the transfer;
ii. plans for the communication with such of the Managed Service Partner's sub-contractors,
staff, Bidders, customers and any related third party as are necessary to avoid any
material detrimental impact on the IRCTC’s operations as a result of undertaking the
transfer;
iii. (if applicable) proposed arrangements for the segregation of the Managed Service
Partner's networks from the networks employed by IRCTC and identification of specific
security tasks necessary at termination;
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 75 of 191
iv. Plans for provision of contingent support to IRCTC, and Replacement Managed Service
Partner for a reasonable period after transfer.
1.9.2 The Managed Service Partner shall re-draft the Exit Management Plan annually thereafter to
ensure that it is kept relevant and up to date.
1.9.3 Each Exit Management Plan shall be presented by the Managed Service Partner to and
approved by the IRCTC or its nominated agencies.
1.9.4 The terms of payment as stated in the Terms of Payment Schedule include the costs of the
Managed Service Partner complying with its obligations under this Schedule.
1.9.5 In the event of termination or expiry of MSA, and Project Implementation, each Party shall
comply with the Exit Management Plan.
1.9.6 During the exit management period, the Managed Service Partner shall use its best efforts to
deliver the services.
1.9.7 Payments during the Exit Management period shall be made in accordance with the Terms of
Payment Schedule.
1.9.8 This Exit Management plan shall be furnished in writing to the IRCTC or its nominated
agencies within 90 days from the Effective Date of this Agreement.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 76 of 191
SCHEDULE: III Audit, Access and Reporting
1.1 PURPOSE
1.1.1 This Schedule details the audit, access and reporting rights and obligations of the IRCTC or
its nominated agency and the Managed Service Partner.
1.2 AUDIT NOTICE AND TIMING
1.2.1 As soon as reasonably practicable after the Effective Date, the Parties shall use their best
endeavours to agree to a timetable for routine audits during the Project Implementation Phase
and the Operation and Management Phase. Such timetable during the Implementation
Phase, the IRCTC or its nominated agency and thereafter during the operation Phase, the
IRCTC or its nominated agency shall conduct routine audits in accordance with such agreed
timetable and shall not be required to give the Managed Service Partner any further notice of
carrying out such audits.
1.2.2 The IRCTC or its nominated agency may conduct non-timetabled audits at his/ her own
discretion if it reasonably believes that such non-timetabled audits are necessary as a result
of an act of fraud by the Managed Service Partner, a security violation, or breach of
confidentiality obligations by the Managed Service Partner, provided that the requirement for
such an audit is notified in writing to the Managed Service Partner a reasonable period time
prior to the audit (taking into account the circumstances giving rise to the reasonable belief)
stating in a reasonable level of detail the reasons for the requirement and the alleged facts on
which the requirement is based. If the Managed Service Partner considers that the non-
timetabled audit was not appropriate, the matter shall be referred to the escalation procedure
as set out in the Governance Schedule.
1.2.3 The frequency of audits shall be a (maximum) half yearly, provided always that the IRCTC or
its nominated agency shall endeavour to conduct such audits with the lowest levels of
inconvenience and disturbance practicable being caused to the Managed Service Partner.
Any such audit shall be conducted by with adequate notice of 2 weeks to the Managed
Service Partner.
1.2.4 IRCTC will ensure that any 3rd party agencies (except CAG) appointed to conduct the audit
will not be the competitor of Managed Service Partner and will be bound by confidentiality
obligations.
1.3 ACCESS
1.3.1 The Managed Service Partner shall provide to the IRCTC or its nominated agency reasonable
access to employees, subcontractors, Bidders, agents and third party facilities as detailed in
the RFP, documents, records and systems reasonably required for audit and shall provide all
such persons with routine assistance in connection with the audits and inspections. The
Chairperson, PIU / Steering Committee shall have the right to copy and retain copies of any
relevant records. The Managed Service Partner shall make every reasonable effort to co-
operate with them.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 77 of 191
1.4 AUDIT RIGHTS
1.4.1 The IRCTC or its nominated agency shall have the right to audit and inspect Bidders, agents
and third party facilities (as detailed in the RFP), data centres, documents, records,
procedures and systems relating to the provision of the services, but only to the extent that
they relate to the provision of the services, as shall be reasonably necessary to verify:
i. The security, integrity and availability of all data processed, held or conveyed by the
Partner on behalf of IRCTC and documentation related thereto;
ii. That the actual level of performance of the services is the same as specified in the SLA;
iii. That the Managed Service Partner has complied with the relevant technical standards, and
has adequate internal controls in place; and
iv. The compliance of the Managed Service Partner with any other obligation under the MSA
and SLA.
v. Security audit and implementation audit of the system shall be done once each year, the
cost of which shall be borne by the Managed Service Partner.
vi. For the avoidance of doubt the audit rights under this Schedule shall not include access to
the Managed Service Partner's profit margins or overheads, any confidential information
relating to the Managed Service Partner’ employees, or (iii) minutes of its internal Board or
vii. Board committee meetings including internal audit, or (iv) such other information of
commercial-in-confidence nature which are not relevant to the Services associated with
any obligation under the MSA.
viii. IRCTC has the right to listen to any call at any given point of time
ix. IRCTC has the right to see the template of any message at any given point of time to
ensure consistency and quality in service delivery
1.5 AUDIT RIGHTS OF SUB-CONTRACTORS, BIDDERS AND AGENTS
1.5.1 The Managed Service Partner shall use reasonable endeavours to achieve the same audit
and access provisions as defined in this Schedule with sub-contractors who supply labour,
services in respect of the services. The Managed Service Partner shall inform the IRCTC or
its nominated agency prior to concluding any sub-contract or supply agreement of any failure
to achieve the same rights of audit or access
1.5.2 REPORTING: The Managed Service Partner will provide quarterly reports to the Chairperson,
PIU / Steering committee regarding any specific aspects of the Project and in context of the
audit and access information as required by the IRCTC or its nominated agency.
1.6 ACTION AND REVIEW
1.6.1 Any change or amendment to the systems and procedures of the Managed Service Partner,
or subcontractors, where applicable arising from the audit report shall be agreed within thirty
(30) calendar days from the submission of the said report.
1.6.2 Any discrepancies identified by any audit pursuant to this Schedule shall be immediately
notified to the IRCTC or its nominated agency and the Managed Service Partner Project
Manager who shall determine what action should be taken in respect of such discrepancies in
accordance with the terms of the MSA.
1.7 TERMS OF PAYMENT
1.7.1 The IRCTC shall bear the cost of any audits and inspections. The terms of payment are
exclusive of any costs of the Managed Service Partner and the sub-contractor, for all
reasonable assistance and information provided under the MSA, the Project Implementation,
Operation and Management SLA by the Managed Service Partner pursuant to this Schedule.
1.8 RECORDS AND INFORMATION
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 78 of 191
1.8.1 For the purposes of audit in accordance with this Schedule, the Managed Service Partner
shall maintain true and accurate records in connection with the provision of the services and
the Managed Service Partner shall handover all the relevant records and documents upon the
termination or expiry of the MSA
Page 79 of 191
SCHEDULE: IV Governance Schedule
1. PURPOSE
The purpose of this Schedule is to:
i. establish and maintain the formal and informal processes for managing the relationship
between the IRCTC and the Managed Service Partner (including the outputs from other
Schedules to this Agreement;
ii. define the principles that both Parties wish to follow to ensure the delivery of the Services;
iii. ensure the continued alignment of the interests of the Parties;
iv. ensure that the relationship is maintained at the correct level within each Party;
v. create the flexibility to revise and maintain the relationship and this Agreement during the
Term;
vi. set out the procedure for escalating disagreements; and
vii. enable contract administration and performance management.
2. GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE
i. Project Managers: The relationship under this Agreement will be managed by the Project
Managers appointed by each Party, who will provide the interface between the executive
management of the respective Parties.
ii. Project Implementation Unit (PIU): Within 7 days following the Effective Date, IRCTC or its
nominated agencies and the Managed Service Partner shall each appoint a Project
Manager. In the event that either Party wishes to substitute its Project Manager it will do so in
manner in which the original appointment is made and notify the other Party of such
substitution as soon as reasonably practicable but at the latest within 7 days of the
substitution.
iii. The Project Managers shall have responsibility for maintaining the interface and
communication between the Parties.
iv. The PIU will meet formally on a fortnightly / monthly / quarterly, as required, basis at a time
and location to be agreed between them. These meetings will cover, as a minimum, the
following agenda items: (i) consideration of Quarterly Performance Reports; (ii) consideration
of matters arising out of the Change Control Schedule; (iii) issues escalated in accordance
with the escalation procedure as set out in the Governance Schedule; (iv) matters to be
brought before the PIU in accordance with the MSA and the Schedules; (v) any matter
brought before the PIU by the Managed Service Partner under this Article; and (vi) any other
issue which either Party wishes to add to the agenda.
v. In the event that there is any material factor which affects the delivery of the Services or the
terms of payment as stated in the Terms of Payment Schedule, the Parties agree to discuss
in the PIU any appropriate amendment to the Agreement or any Service Level Agreements
or Statement of Works including any variation to the terms of payment as stated in the Terms
of Payment Schedule. Any variation so agreed shall be implemented through the change
control procedure as set out in the Change Control Schedule.
vi. The other Party ("Respondent") shall have the right to respond to the Dispute Notice within 7
days after receipt of the Dispute Notice. In the event that the parties are unable to resolve the
Disputed Matter within a further period of 7 days, it shall refer the Disputed Matter to next
level of the dispute resolution for action as per the process mentioned in article 9.1
vii. All negotiations, statements and / or documentation pursuant to these Articles shall be
without prejudice and confidential (unless mutually agreed otherwise).
viii. If the Disputed Matter is having a material effect on the operation of the Services (or any of
them or part of them) the Parties will use all their respective reasonable endeavours to
reduce the elapsed time in reaching a resolution of the Disputed Matter.
Page 80 of 191
SCHEDULE-V: Service Level Agreement
1.1 Service Level Agreement is to clearly define the levels of service which shall be provided by the
selected Bidder to IRHES 139. The SLAs mentioned in this section makes explicit the
expectations that IRCTC has for performance, from the selected Bidder. SLA helps IRCTC
control the deliverables, agreed levels and performance of Bidder.
1.2 The Service Levels mentioned in this section define the levels of service which shall be delivered
by the Call Centre Service Provider for the duration of the contract and shall be applicable on the
Call Centre Service Provider from the date of start of project
1.3 The Selected Bidder shall agree to the following service level agreement (SLA) parameters while
providing Contact Centre services to IRHES’s stakeholders. These SLAs shall be tracked on a
periodic basis and are envisaged to have penalty and or liquidation damage clauses on non-
adherence to any of them.
The SLA parameters are divided into 2 (two) types:
i. One-Time SLA Parameters.
ii. Operational SLA Parameters.
1.4 Service Level Agreement Applicability
The One-Time SLA parameters noted below in the Service Level Agreement will start to be
applicable from the date of award of Letter of Intent (LoI) and operational SLA parameters after
the Go-Live of Contact Centre.
IRCTC’s authorized resources/partners will audit the Contact Centre facility for organized audit to
be done with a week’s notice to the bidder. IRCTC or its authorized partners shall audit the
Contact Centre sites, procedures, reviews of Customer Service Executive’s, etc. IRCTC will
conduct (either itself or through appointed third parties) performance and response audits (e.g.
calling / Barge-in online and offline), process audits, site visits, to ensure service quality
management. The minimum standards to be met are given in the SLA specifications in this
document.
Page 81 of 191
1.5 SLA Parameters
1.5.1 One-Time Service Levels
S. no Service level Definition Measurement Criteria Timeline Liquidated
Damages
ONETIME SERVICELEVELS
1. On-boarding of all
Resources and
Commencement of services
Commence the service as
per the scope of work
Within7daysfromthedate of
signing the contract between
the Purchaser and the Call
Centre Service
Provider
Within 7 days from the date
of signing the contract
between the Purchaser
and the Call Centre
Service Provider
Nil
Delay of every 7 days from
7th day of the date of
singing the contract
between the Purchaser
and the Call
Centre Service Provider
1% of Security Deposit
(SD) for every 7 days
delay Capped at total
value of SD
Quarter shall be
deemed to have started
on the day when the
IRHES is Go-Live.
2. Attending training of each agent (master trainer) at IRCTC
As defined in the “training”
section 6.4.4 basis of the
work shop arranged by
IRCTC
100%attendance Attendance<100% ₹5,000 per
Resource being
absent
3. First cut Submission of performance dashboard
Thefirstcutoftheperformancedashboardshallbepreparedandsubmittedto IRCTC for review and feedback.
The first cut of the performance dashboard shall contain all the operational service levels mentioned in
Within15calendardays(includingthe15thday) from the date of go-live
Nil
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 82 of 191
S. no Service level Definition Measurement Criteria Timeline Liquidated
Damages
this RFP with at least 10 days of operational data.
>15calendardaysfromthedateofgo-live.
1% of Security Deposit (SD) for every 7 days delay Capped at total value of SD Quarter shall be deemed to have started on the day when the IRHES is Go-Live.
4. Final Submission of
performance
dashboard
Final performance
dashboard with due
Incorporation of any
changes suggested by
IRCTC.
Final performance dashboard
With due incorporation of any
Changes suggested by
IRCTC.
Within 20 calendars
days (including the
20thday) from the
date of suggestions received from IRCTC.
Nil
>20 calendar days (including the 20th day) from the date of suggestions received From IRCTC
1% of Security Deposit (SD) for every 7 days delay Capped at total value of SD
Quarter shall be deemed to have started on the day when the IRHES is Go-Live.
5. Submission of training module & test process
As defined in the “training”
section 6.4.4 basis on the
workshop arranged by
IRCTC, the selected Call
Centre Service Provider is
expected to develop a
training module & a test
process for on-barding of
future resources and submit
the same to IRCTC for
The training module & test process should cover all the aspects of process given by IRCTC covered during the
workshop.
Within 10 calendar days (including the 10th day) from the date of go-live.
Nil
> 10 calendar days (including the 10th day) from the date of go-live.
1% of Security Deposit (SD) for every 7 days delay Capped at total value of SD Quarter shall be deemed to have started on the day
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 83 of 191
S. no Service level Definition Measurement Criteria Timeline Liquidated
Damages
review and approval. when the IRHES is Go-Live.
6. Final submission of training module & test process.
Final training module & test process with due incorporation of any changes suggested by IRCTC.
Final training module & test process with due incorporation of any changes suggested by IRCTC.
Within 10 calendar days (including the 10th day) from the Date of suggestions received from IRCTC.
Nil
>10 calendar days (including the 10th day) from the date of suggestions received from IRCTC.
1% of Security Deposit (SD) for every 7 days delay Capped at total value of SD Quarter shall be deemed to have started on the day when the IRHES is Go-Live.
7. Go-live of the call center
As defined in scope of work Within 90 days of signing of contract
Delay of every 1 day up to 10th day beyond which IRCTC may choose to terminate the contract
Rs. 30,000 per day of delay capped at Rs.3,00,000
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 84 of 191
1.6 Operational
This section details the various indicative Operational service levels to be adhered to by the selected bidder. Deviations from the agreed upon performance
will be consistently measured and severity level for non-compliance will be assigned.
The selected Bidder is required to manage the entire customer support process. The Contact Centre team is required to manage customer queries in the
most efficient and effective manner.
1. The IRHES are to be provided 24x7x365 basis. However, it may be noted that about 90% of calls are expected to be serviced between 06:00 to
00:00hours.
2. The overall availability of IRHES shall be 99.5% on daily basis.
3. In no single instance IRHES failure shall exceed 02 hours. There shall, however, be a provision for scheduled maintenance downtime during the lean
traffic hours which shall be fixed in coordination with IRCTC.
4. The total number of IRHES system failures affecting the services should not exceed 2 (two) per month.
5. The average call waiting time per day for calls required to be serviced by Agents on transfer from IVRS or on direct calls (for PES) shall be less than
or equal to 30 seconds for 95% of the calls.
6. The average call waiting time at IVRS per day shall be less than or equal to 3 seconds.
7. The SLA parameters specified above shall be reviewed by IRCTC periodically in coordination with the MSP.
8. The REF shall have to provide adequate IVRS capacity and update the response call flow structure in such a way so as to ensure that at least 85% of
the calls coming to the Call Centre are disposed-off by the IVRS.
9. IRCTC shall conduct random Quality of Service (QoS) Audits with respect to quality parameters such as manner in which the callers are greeted,
encouraging the callers to use the service in future, overall experience of the caller etc. The evaluation mechanism used for these quality audits shall
be based on Weighted Scores with a minimum threshold defined for acceptable quality, the details of which including penalties and incentives shall
be worked out in coordination with the MSP.
10. IRCTC shall gain customer feedback with respect to their satisfaction level for various services offered from IRHES through medium like SMS as well
websites of Indian Railways / IRCTC.
11. The MSP shall submit reports on all the SLA parameters defined in this section to IRCTC in accordance with the specified formats and reporting
periods. IRCTC may ask the MSP to provide clarifications on these reports as well as the measurement tools and processes utilized by the MSP for
reporting. IRCTC shall verify the veracity of these reports by conducting Audits on its own or by using the services of an external Auditor. MSP shall
extend full cooperation for conducting such audits.
12. Penalties & Incentives given below are applicable for the sizing parameters given above. In case of significant increase in call traffic, sizing
parameters will be reviewed by IRCTC &MSP jointly. MSP shall do the up-gradation and reorientation in the minimum possible time and Penalties &
Incentives shall not be applicable during this period.
Operational SLAs
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 85 of 191
1.6.1 Inbound Voice Calls
Applicability Inbound voice calls.
Definition This is the percentage of calls that are answered by the call center agents within a specified time period
Formulae Calls Answered within a threshold of 30 seconds across all languages/(Total Calls offered across all
languages -Abandoned calls with less than or equal to 5 seconds queue time across all languages)
Measurement Interval Reporting period Target Penalty
Daily Quarterly >95% Nil
>= 90% and <95% 1% of invoice billed value
>= 85% and <90% 2% of invoice billed value
< 85% 5% of invoice billed value
1.6.2 Call abandoned rate
Applicability Inbound voice calls.
Definition The % of inbound voice calls that are requested for an agent but got disconnected before being answered by the agent. (Only calls that get disconnected after 10 seconds after being transferred from IVRS to ACD queue will be considered for computation of this service level).
Formulae (Total Abandoned calls across all languages–Abandoned calls with less than or equal to 5 seconds queue
time across all languages)/Total Calls Offered across all languages.
Measurement Interval Reporting period Target Penalty
Daily Quarterly <= 3% Nil
>= 3% and<5% 3% of invoice billed value
>= 5% and<10% 5%of invoice billed value
>10% 10% of invoice billed value
1.6.3 Caller’s Satisfaction
Applicability Inbound and out bound voice calls. Applicable to both on agents and IVRS
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 86 of 191
Definition This is the measure of caller’s satisfaction with the way their query/complaint has been handled by the agent and/or IVRS. The Call Centre Service Provider shall be responsible for maintaining a minimum level of Caller satisfaction based on the criteria defined by IRCTC. The satisfaction level of callers shall be collected on a five-pointer scale of 5: “Highly satisfied”, 4: “Satisfied” 3:“Average”, 2:“Dissatisfied” and1: “Highly Dissatisfied”
Formulae (Sum of - 5:“Highly satisfied”, 4:“Satisfied”)/Total number of surveys
Measurement Interval Reporting period Target Penalty
Daily Quarterly >= 90% Nil
>= 85% but <90% 2% of invoice billed value
>= 80% but <85% 5% of invoice billed value
1.6.4 Interactions of Record Percentage
Applicability All Interactions
Definition To measure percentage of interactions recorded in CRM system.
Formulae Number of cases created or modified in CRM system/Number of Interactions
Measurement Interval Reporting period Target Penalty
Daily Quarterly >=95% Nil
>=90% but <95% 2% of invoice billed value
>85% but <=90% 3%of invoice billed value
<85% 5%of invoice billed value
1.6.5 Average Hold Time
Applicability Inbound & Outbound voice calls.
Definition This is measured as the average time a call was put on hold by the Call Centre Agents
Formulae Total Hold Time (Inbound + Outbound)/(Sum of Inbound Calls Handled + Sum of Outbound Calls)
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 87 of 191
Measurement Interval Reporting period Target Penalty
Daily Quarterly <= 20 seconds Nil
>20 seconds but <=30seconds 2%of invoice billed value
>30 seconds but <=35seconds 3%of invoice billed value
>35 seconds 5%of invoice billed value
1.6.6 Average wrap time
Applicability Inbound voice calls.
Definition This is measured as the average time spent by the Ex./Sr. Ex. In wrap mode.
Formulae Total wrap Time/(Sum of Inbound Calls Handled + Sum of Outbound Calls)
Measurement Interval Reporting period Target Penalty
Daily Quarterly <=5 seconds Nil
>5 seconds but <= 10 seconds 2%of invoice billed value
>10 seconds but <= 15 seconds 3%of invoice billed value
>15 seconds 5%of invoice billed value
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 88 of 191
1.6.7 Jingle/ Advertisement playing platform
Applicability Jingle/ Advertisement playing platform:
Definition Jingle played in the system during call hold. This SLA is applicable only during those times when there is availability of jingles
or advertisements and after permission from IRCTC.
Formulae It will be calculated based on formula ―Total uptime in minutes/ Total minutes of operations in the selected period.
Measurement Interval Reporting period Target Penalty
Daily Quarterly >=99.5% Nil
>=98.7% and <99.5% 1%of invoice billed value
>=97% but <98.7% 2%of invoice billed value
>= 95% but< 97% 3%of invoice billed value
< 95% 5% of invoice billed Value
1.6.8 System Uptime
Applicability Inbound voice calls.
Definition Voice response available to citizen
Formulae Total uptime in minutes/ Total minutes of operations in the selected period
Measurement Interval Reporting period Target Penalty
Daily Quarterly >= 99.5% Nil
>= 98.7% and <99.5% 1%of invoice billed value
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 89 of 191
Measurement Interval Reporting period Target Penalty
>=97% but <98.7% 2%of invoice billed value
>= 95% but< 97% 3%of invoice billed value
< 95% 5% of invoice billed Value
Please note that the SLAs defined above will be calculated on the daily pro-rata bills. All the penalties to be levied will be added at the end of each
quarter and the penalties shall be accordingly adjusted with the quarterly payments.
1.7 Monitoring of Service Level Agreements
i. The SLA parameters shall be monitored on a periodic basis as per the individual SLA parameter requirements. However, if the performance of the system/services is degraded significantly at any given point in time during the contract and if the immediate measures are not implemented and issues are not rectified to the complete satisfaction of IRCTC or an agency designated by them, then IRCTC will have the right to take appropriate disciplinary actions including termination of the contract.
ii. The full set of service level reports should be available to the IRCTC on a monthly basis or based on the project requirements. iii. The Monitoring Tools shall play a critical role in monitoring the SLA compliance and hence will have to be customized accordingly. The CCSP shall
make available the Monitoring tools for measuring and monitoring the SLAs. The CCSP may deploy additional tools and develop additional scripts (if required) for capturing the required data for SLA report generation in automated way.
iv. The tools should generate the SLA Monitoring report in the end of every month which is to be shared with the IRCTC on a monthly basis. v. IRCTC or its nominated agency shall have full access to the Monitoring Tools/portal (and any other tools / solutions deployed for SLA measurement
and monitoring) to extract data (raw, intermediate as well as reports) as required during the project. vi. IRCTC or its nominated agency will also audit the tool and the scripts on a regular basis. vii. The measurement methodology / criteria / logic will be reviewed by the Department. viii. Other information about SLA monitoring tool is mentioned at 6.5.3.3
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 90 of 191
Section IV: Bid Submission Formats
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 91 of 191
5 Section IV: Bid Submission Formats and Service Level
Agreement (SLA)
5.1 Bidder’s Self Information
1. Bidder’s Proposal number and date:
2. Name of address of the Bidder (All partners in case of a Joint Venture)
3. Names and addresses of all directors of the company (All partners in case of JV)
4. Name and address of the officer to whom all references shall be made regarding this tender
enquiry with fax and telephone number
5. Turnover of last 3 financial years:
6. Collaboration, if any:
7. Name and address of the officer to whom all references shall be made regarding this tender
enquiry. His/her telephone, mobile, fax and email.
8. Any other point tenderer may like to specify.
Signature: Name/designation:
Company name/address:
Seal:
Signature:
Date:
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 92 of 191
5.2 Prime/Lead Bidder and Joint Venture (JV) detail
<<On non-judicial stamp paper of appropriate value to be purchased in the name of
executant’s companies or as required by the jurisdiction in which executed>>
This Joint Venture Agreement executed on this ................ day of........................... Two
Thousand ………………. By:
M/s. .....................................a Company incorporated under the laws of........................and
having its registered office at............................. (Hereinafter called the “Lead
Member/First Member” which expression shall include its successors);
And
M/s. …....................... a Company incorporated under the laws of
.......................................and having its registered office at.......................... (Hereinafter called
the “Second Member” which expression shall include its successors)
The Lead Member/First Member and the Second Member shall collectively hereinafter be
called as the “JV Members” for the purpose of submitting a proposal (hereinafter called as
“Bid”) for the work of ………………………(Name of project) of IRCTC (hereinafter called the
“Owner”) in response to Request for Proposal Document (hereinafter called as ”tender”
Document) Dated………….. for the purposes of submitting the bid no. ………….
………………………….and entering into a contract in case of award for the work of ……
(Name of work) ………………………
WHEREAS, the IRCTC invited bids vide its tender document no. …………………for the work
of…………AND WHEREAS as per document, JV bids will also be considered by the IRCTC
provided they meet the specific requirements in that regard.
AND WHEREAS the bid is being submitted to the purchaser vide proposal dated …………
based on the JV Agreement and the bid with its forms and submission documents, in
accordance with the requirement of tender conditions and requirements have been signed by
all the partners and submitted to the Owner.
AND WHEREAS Clause <> of tender document stipulates that a JV of maximum <2>
companies, meeting the requirements stipulated in the tender document may submit a
Proposal signed by Lead Member of the JV Members so as to legally bind both the Members
of the JV to the IRCTC and duly signed JV Agreement shall be attached to the Proposal.
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants of the members of the JV, the
sufficiency whereof is hereby acknowledged and other good valuable consideration, we agree
as follows:
1. We the members in the JV hereby confirm that the name and style of the JV shall
be…………….
2. M/s. ......................................shall act as Lead Member for self, and for and on behalf of M/s
……………………. (Second Member) and further declare and confirm that we shall jointly and
severally be bound unto the purchase for the successful performance of the obligations under
the Request for Proposal (tender) and resulting Contact Agreement(s) submitted / executed by
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 93 of 191
the Lead Member in the event of the selection of JV. Further, the Lead member is authorized to
incur liabilities and receive instructions for and on behalf of any or all partners of the Joint
Venture.
3. The composition or the constitution of the JV shall not be altered without the prior consent of
the IRCTC..
4. The roles and responsibilities of the lead member and second member of the JV for execution
of various components/activities as defined in the tender document shall be as under:
S. No. Project
Component/Activity
Roles
&Responsibility
of Lead Member
Roles &Responsibility
of JV Member(s)
1
2
3
4
5. It is agreed that the lead member shall be liable for the entire scope of work and risks involved
thereof. It is also agreed that non-lead member of the JV shall be held equally responsible
along with the lead member for the obligations under the tender Document, Contract and this
Agreement, as per the scope of work, roles and responsibility agreed in this agreement.
6. For the purpose of this Agreement, the tender Document and the Contract, the Lead member
shall be the single point of contact for the IRCTC, shall have the overall responsibility of the
management of the Project and shall have single point responsibility for ensuring that both the
members of the JV are complying with the terms and conditions set out in the Contract and the
tender Document.
7. If IRCTC suffers any loss or damage on account of any breach in the stipulation of the
Agreements to be entered into by the JV Members, upon its selection pursuant to tender (the
"Agreements") or any shortfall in the performance of the Transaction or in meeting the
performances guaranteed as per the tender and the Agreements, the JV Members hereby
jointly and severally undertake to promptly make good such loss or damages caused to IRCTC
on its demand without any demur or contest. The Owner shall have the right to proceed against
anyone of the partners and it shall neither be necessary nor obligatory on the part of the
purchaser (IRCTC) to proceed against the Lead bidder before proceeding against or dealing
with the other Member.
8. The financial liability of the Joint Venture Members to the IRCTC, with respect to any of the
claims arising out of the performance or non-performance of obligations under the tender and
the resulting Agreement(s) shall not be limited so as to restrict or limit the liabilities of any of the
Members.
9. It is expressly agreed by the both the Members that all the due payments shall be made by the
IRCTC in the name of Joint Venture. In case Joint Venture is to made due payments to IRCTC,
both the JV members will be responsible to clear the due payments of IRCTC timely.
10. This JV agreement shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of India and
the Courts of Delhi shall have the exclusive jurisdiction in all matters arising there under.
11. It is also hereby agreed that Lead Member shall, on behalf of the JV shall submit the Bid and
performance Security as specified by purchase in the tender document.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 94 of 191
12. It is further agreed that this JV Agreement shall be irrevocable and shall continue to be
enforceable till the same is discharged by IRCTC
13. This Agreement shall come into force as of the date of signing and shall continue in full force
and effect until the complete discharge of all obligations, concerning the carrying out of the
Project, which have been taken on by the Parties under the Contract, tender Document and
under this Agreement.
14. Any other terms and conditions not in contradiction to the tender and above-mentioned terms
and conditions.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Members to the Joint Venture agreement have through their
authorised representatives executed these presents and affixed common seal of their companies,
on the day, month and year first mentioned above.
For ……………………...
(Signature, Name & Title)
For …………...................
(Signature, Name & Title)
(Executants) (To be executed by both the Members of the JV)
Witnesses: 1.
2.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 95 of 191
Note:
The mode of execution of the Power of Attorney should be in accordance with the
procedure, if any, laid down by the applicable law and the charter documents of
the executants (s) and when it is so required, the same should be under common
seal affixed in accordance with the required procedure.
Wherever required, the Bidder should submit for verification the extract of the
charter documents and documents such as a board or shareholders resolution/
power of attorney in favour of the person executing this Power of Attorney for the
delegation of power hereunder on behalf of the Bidder.
For a Power of Attorney executed and issued overseas, the document will also
have to be legalised by the Indian Embassy and notarised in the jurisdiction where
the Power of Attorney is being issued. However, the Power of Attorney provided by
Bidders from countries that have signed the Hague Legislation Convention 1961
are not required to be legalised by the Indian Embassy if it carries a conforming
Appostille certificate.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 96 of 191
5.3 Undertaking that Bidder is not Blacklisted/Insolvency
Undertaking that Bidder is not Blacklisted by any Govt. of India Agency/PSU
(On Bidder/firm/ company/ organization’s letter head)
I …………………………………… (name) ………………………………………………….,
(Designation & Address) and authorized signatory for the management of
………………………………………………………………………………. (Name & Address of
the firm/ company/ organization)
DO HEREBY SOLEMNLY AFFIRM AND DECLARE AS UNDER:
1. We are not be currently blacklisted or not have appeared our name in the negative / black list of any public sector undertaking /Government organization from the last three years to the date of opening of the bid for any breach of applicable laws or violation of regulatory prescriptions or breach of agreement.
2. Our company have not suffered bankruptcy/insolvency during last 5 years.
3. In competing for (and, if the award is made to us, in executing) the above contract, we will strictly observe the laws against fraud and corruption in force in India.
Enclosure (IF ANY):
Signature of the authorized signatory:
Name & Designation of authorized signatory:
Name of the Firm/Company
Office Address of the Firm:
Mobile/Contact Details:
Date:
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 97 of 191
5.4 Response to Eligibility and Evaluation Criteria (Refer Clause 2.25 & 2.26 of Section-
II- Instructions to Bidders)
The Bidder is required to fill relevant information in the format given below. The pre-qualification
and technical bid i.e., Packet A must contain documentary evidences and supporting information
as asked in Clause in clause 2.25 & 2.26 of Section-II Instructions to Bidders of the tender
document, so as to enable purchaser to evaluate the eligibility of the Bidder without ambiguity.
S.
No Criteria
Criteria
description
Supporting
Document
Response
(Yes / No)
Reference in
Response to Pre-
Qualification &
Technical Bid
(Section # and Page #)
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 98 of 191
5.5 Project Details
Project Experience Details
For Prime Bidder (please specify) ____________________________
Name of the project: Location:
Project Value: (in INR Crores):
Status: (Complete / Ongoing / Phase Completed)
Client Name: Client Address:
Brief description of the project:
Actual Services provided in the project:
Work Order/Engagement Letter No. (Copy to be enclosed):
Completion Certificate (Copy to be enclosed):
Bidder:
Signature ------------------------
Name ------------------------
Designation ------------------------
Company ------------------------
Date ------------------------
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 99 of 191
5.6 Manpower Details
Details of Manpower for the project
S. No.
Name Current Position in the Firm
Name of the Firm
Proposed Position
Age Qualifications
Total Experience in years
Total relevant experience in years
1
2
3
4
5
Bidder:
Signature ------------------------
Name ------------------------
Designation ------------------------
Company ------------------------
Date ------------------------
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 100 of 191
5.7 CV Format
1. Proposed Position:
2. Name of Firm and Role
3. Name of Staff:
4. Position held in Firm
5. Date of Birth: Nationality:
6. Education:
Year Degree/Examination Institute/Board
7. Membership of
Professional
Associations:
8. Other Training:
9. Countries of Work
Experience:
10. Languages:
Language Speaking Reading Writing
11.
Employment Record:
From To Employer Positions Held
12. Detailed Tasks Assigned: 13. Work Undertaken that best illustrates capability to handle
the tasks assigned:
14. Certification:
I, the undersigned, certify that to the best of my knowledge and belief, this CV correctly describes
me, my qualifications, my experienceand my committed man-months for this project. I understand
that any wilful misstatement described herein may lead to my disqualification or dismissal, if
engaged.
Signature of the staff Date:
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 101 of 191
Full name of authorised representative:
Bidder:
Signature ------------------------
Name ------------------------
Designation ------------------------
Company ------------------------
Date ------------------------
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 102 of 191
5.8 Technical Bid Submission Letter
<<On Bidder / Lead Bidder Letterhead>>
Date:
To
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC),
GGM/Services, Punj House, M-13 Connaught Place
New Delhi- 110001
Subject: Response to Request for Proposal (RFP) for “Selection of Managed Service
Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139)”
Dear Sir,
1. Being duly authorized to represent and act for and on behalf of _______________ (herein the applicant) and having studied and fully understood all the information provided in the Bid document, related clarification, corrigendum/addendum on the tender document subsequently issued, the undersigned hereby apply as a bidder for franchising of Integrated Railway Helpline and Enquiry System (IRHES) according to the terms & conditions of the offer made by IRCTC. I/We have also visited the project site for the assessment and have made our own due diligence and assessment regarding the project.
2. I/We hereby request to be qualified with the IRCTC as a bidder for<Project Title>
against Tender No. <.......................>. I / We declare that all the services shall be
performed strictly in accordance with the tender documents and we agree to all the terms
and conditions in the tender.
3. Bid Securing Declaration as applicable in place of EMD is submitted duly signed by
authorized signatory on the bidder’s company letter head.
4. I / We confirm that I / we am / are withdrawing all the deviations, counter clauses,
proposed modifications in the Scope of work, Terms and Conditions, Functional
Requirement Specifications and Technical Specifications which may have been
mentioned in our proposal.
5. We authorize IRCTC or their authorized representatives to conduct any investigations to
verify the statements, documents and information submitted and to clarify the financial
and technical aspects of this application. For this purpose, we hereby authorize (any
public official, engineer, bank, depository, manufacturer, distributor, etc.) or any other
person or firm to furnish pertinent information deemed necessary and requested by
IRCTC to verify statements and information provided in this application or regarding our
competence and standing.
6. The names and positions of persons who may be contacted for further information, if
required, are as follows:
Name: ________________________________
Designation: ________________________________
Telephone: ________________________________
E-mail id: ________________________________
7. We declare that the statements made, and the information provided in the duly completed
application to IRCTC of our knowledge, are complete, true and correct in every detail. On
verification at any time in the future if it is found that information furnished with this
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 103 of 191
application and statements made therein are not true, incomplete or incorrect, we hereby
authorize IRCTC to reject our application.
8. We confirm having submitted the information as required by you in Qualification Criteria.
In case you require any other further information / documentary proof in this regard
before evaluation of our bid, we agree to furnish the same in time to your satisfaction.
9. We undertake, if our proposal is accepted, to provide all the services related to “Project
Title” put forward in the bid document or such features as may subsequently be mutually
agreed between us and IRCTC or its appointed representatives.
10. We agree for unconditional acceptance of all the terms and conditions set out in the bid
document and agree to abide by this bid response for a period of 180 days from the date
fixed for bid opening and it shall remain binding upon us with full force and virtue. Till a
formal contract is prepared and executed, this bid response, together with your written
acceptance thereof in your notification of award, shall constitute a binding contract
between us and IRCTC.
11. We hereby declare that in case the contract is awarded to us, we will submit Security
Deposit (Performance Security Deposit) of INR 1,66,60,000.00 only in the form
prescribed in the tender.
12. I/We understand that IRCTC reserves the right to reject any application without assigning
any reason thereof.
13. I/We hereby undertake that I/We have not made any payment or illegal gratification to
any person/authority connected with the bid process to influence the bid process and
have not committed any offence under the PC Act in connection with the bid.
14. All the prices mentioned in our Tender are in accordance with the terms as specified in
the tender documents. All the prices and other terms and conditions of this Bid are valid
for a period of 180 calendar days from the date of opening of the Bid.
15. We hereby confirm that our prices are inclusive of all type of expenses as required for the
complete project, excluding GST on quoted price.
16. We understand that the actual payment would be payable/ made as per the existing tax
rates during the time of payment in the original currency of contract.
17. I/We do hereby confirm to deliver the latest versions of the software and hardware as
available on the date of delivery on mutually agreed terms, that addresses the
requirements of IRCTC.
18. We further confirm that the prices stated in our bid are in accordance with your Instruction
to Bidders and terms & conditions of the Tender documents.
19. In case you require any other further information/ documentary proof before/ during
evaluation of our Tender, we agree to furnish the same in time to your satisfaction.
20. We declare that our Bid Price is for the entire scope of the work as specified in the tender
document. These prices are indicated in Commercial Bid submitted as part of the
requirements of Tender.
21. I/We do hereby undertake that commercial proposal (financial bid) submitted by us is
inclusive of all the items in the technical proposal and is inclusive of all the clarification
provided/may be provided by us on the technical proposal during the evaluation of the
technical offer. We understand and agree that our commercial proposal is firm and final,
and shall any clarifications sought by you and provided by us would not have any impact
on the commercial proposal submitted by us.
22. Our commercial proposal shall be binding upon us subject to the modifications resulting
from Contract negotiations, up to expiration of the validity period of the Proposal.
23. We understand you are not bound to accept any Proposal you receive.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 104 of 191
24. We hereby declare that our Tender is made in good faith, without collusion or fraud and
the information contained in the Tender is true and correct to the IRCTC of our knowledge
and belief.
25. I/We shall disclose any payments made or proposed to be made to any intermediaries
(agents, etc.) in connection with the bid.
26. We also agree that until a formal agreement is prepared and executed, the issuance of
purchase order/LoA shall constitute a binding contract between us as per the terms and
conditions of the tender document subject to modification, as may be mutually agreed to
between us as indicated in the letter of acceptance of our offer for this work.
27. We declare that we have read through the Tender document, all related clarifications and
corrigendum.
28. A notice or letter of communication addressed to me/us at the given address given in the
Bid, even by ordinary post/email, will be deemed to be valid and proper notice of
intimation to me/us.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully
(Signature of the Authorized signatory of the Sole Bidder/ Lead Bidder)
Name :
Designation :
Date :
Company Seal :
Business Address :
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 105 of 191
5.9 Manufacturer’s Authorization Form
<<To be submitted on the Company Letter head of the OEM>> Dated:
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC),
GGM/Services, Punj House, M-13 Connaught Place New Delhi- 110001 Sub: Authorization of <company name of Bidder> to Provide Services Based on Our
Product(s)
Sir,
1. This is to certify that I/We am/are the Original Equipment Manufacturer in respect of the
products listed below. I/We confirm that <name of Bidder> have due authorization from
us to provide services, to IRCTC, that are based on our product(s) listed below as per
Request for Proposal document titled <Title> We further endorse the warranty and
contracting terms provided by bidder to IRCTC.
2. I/We are the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in respect of the products listed.
I/We do hereby undertake that our products being installed by <Bidder Name >, pursuant
to the Request for Proposal (tender) document relating to providing of the
Implementation, Information Technology Infrastructure and System Integration services
to IRCTC, will be inspected to ensure they are installed, commissioned and supported to
the IRCTC of the operating characteristics of these applications equipment.
3. I/We also undertake that we will provide support to IRCTC in quality of deliverables and
in ensuring that the solution is implemented in the IRCTC of ways by exploiting all the
capabilities offered by the solution, to meet the requirements of IRCTC I/We also
undertake that we will support all the customizations made on our product by the SI to
meet the requirements of IRCTC.
4. I/We hereby confirm that the support including spares and upgrades for the quoted
products shall be available for the minimum period of 5 years from date of supply
5. I/We hereby confirm that OEM undertaking to provide warranty/support for minimum
period of 5 years for supplied component and have back to back warranty/support
arrangement with the <Bidder Name> to ensure smooth operations.
6. I/We hereby confirm that OEM of product offered have 24x7x365 Technical support with
operation toll free number in INDIA
S. No. Product Name Remarks
Yours faithfully,
Authorised Signatory
Designation
OEM’s company name
CC: Bidder’s corporate name
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 106 of 191
5.10 Overview of Proposed Solution
Please provide relevant details on Solutions & Services specific to Bidder’s proposal in the form
of following write ups
Form 3.10.1: Proposed Solution
a. Component 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
b. Component 2
1.
2.
3.
c. Component 3
1.
2.
3.
d. Component 4
1.
2.
3.
e. Component 5
4.
5.
6.
Methodology & Detailed Project Plan
1. Bidder should cover details of the methodology proposed to be adopted for providing services
relating to project implementation.
2. The Bidder is required to include his understanding of the requirements, Solution
architecture, Deployment Strategy and Implementation Plan in his approach and
methodology.
3. Bidder is expected to provide details of the organization structure proposed for the execution
of this contract. This should cover the composition of the complete team including the sub-
contractors, and their escalation matrix.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 107 of 191
4. An Implementation Plan in the form of a Detailed Project Plan covering break-up of each
phase into the key activities, along with the start and end dates must be provided as per
format given below.
Form 3.10.2: Detailed Project Plan
Activity-wise Timelines
S. No. Item of Activity Month wise Program
1 2 3 4 5 …
Project Plan
1 Activity 1
1.1 Sub-Activity 1
1.2 Sub-Activity 2
2
2.1
2.2
3
3.1
4
Note: The above activity chart is just for the purpose of illustration. Bidders are requested to provide
detailed activity & phase wise timelines for executing the project with details of deliverables & milestones
as per their proposal.
Bidder:
Signature ------------------------
Name ------------------------
Designation ------------------------
Company ------------------------
Date ------------------------
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 108 of 191
5.11 Intentionally Kept Blank
5.12 Performa for EMD
Bid Securing Declaration
(To be submitted on the letterhead of the Applicant/ Bidder)
To,
Group General Manager/Services
M-13, Punj House, Connaught Place
New Delhi – 110001
Subject: Bid Securing Declaration
Reference: IRCTC’s e-tender No. 2021/IRCTC/SERVICES/IRHES/139 dated......
I/We the undersigned, declare that:
“I/We hereby understand and accept that if I/we withdraw or modify my/our bids
during the period of validity, or if I/we are awarded the contract and on being called upon
to submit the performance security/Security Deposit, fail to submit the performance
security/ Security Deposit, before the deadline defined in the request for bid
document/Notice Inviting tender, I/we shall be ready to face actions mentioned as under:
Withdrawal of bids by the bidder(s)- applicability of ‘Bid Securing Declaration’
a) If firm/bidder is L-1/H1 (as applicable) after opening of tender and Withdraws offer before issue of LOA: Action: Firm will be debarred for 01-year for participating in all future tender of IRCTC. After one year, offer of the defaulting firm will only be considered on submission of EMD.
b) Firm exits from contract after issue of LOA before commencement of services without depositing Security Deposit: Action: As (a) above.
c) Firm exits from contract after depositing Security Deposit and after
commencement of services: Action: As per (a) above, in addition to forfeiture of security deposit.
Signed:
Name: (insert complete name of person signing the Bid Securing Declaration) Duly authorized to sign the bid for an on behalf of (insert complete name of Bidder) Name of the Bidder/Company and
Seal _______________________ Dated on _____________ day of __________________
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 109 of 191
5.13 Non-Disclosure Agreement
NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT
WHEREAS, we the undersigned Bidder, __________________________________, having our
principal place of business/ registered office at _________________, are desirous of bidding for
RFP No. XX dated MM-DD-20YY covering “Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for
Integrated Railways Helpline System -139” (hereinafter called the said 'RFP') to the IRCTC,
Internet Ticketing Centre, State Entry Road, New Delhi 110055 hereinafter referred to as
‘Purchaser' and,
WHEREAS, the Bidder is aware and confirms that the Purchaser’s business/ operations,
information, Application/software, hardware, business data, architecture schematics, designs,
storage media and other information / documents made available by the Purchaser in the RFP
documents during the bidding process and thereafter, or otherwise (confidential information for
short) is privileged and strictly confidential and/or proprietary to the Purchaser,
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of disclosure of confidential information, and in order to
ensure the Purchaser’s grant to the Bidder of specific access to Purchaser’s confidential
information, property, information systems, network, databases and other data, the Bidder agrees
to all of the following conditions.
It is hereby agreed as under:
1. The confidential information to be disclosed by the Purchaser under this Agreement
(“Confidential Information”) shall include without limitation, any and all information in written,
representational, electronic, verbal (“to be confirmed in writing within fifteen days of such
verbal disclosure.) or other form relating directly or indirectly to processes, methodologies,
algorithms, risk matrices, thresholds, parameters, reports, deliverables, work products,
specifications, architecture, project information, money laundering typologies, related
computer programs, systems, trend analysis, risk plans, strategies and information
communicated or obtained through meetings, documents, correspondence or inspection of
tangible items, facilities or inspection at any site to which access is permitted by the
Purchaser.
2. Confidential Information does not include information which:
a. the Bidder knew or had in its possession, prior to disclosure, without limitation on its
confidentiality;
b. information in the public domain as a matter of law;
c. is obtained by the Bidder from a third party without any obligation of confidentiality;
d. the Bidder is required to disclose by order of a competent court or regulatory authority;
e. is released from confidentiality with the written consent of the Purchaser.
The Bidder shall have the burden of proving hereinabove are applicable to the information in the
possession of the Bidder.
3. The Bidder agrees to hold in trust any Confidential Information received by the Bidder, as part
of the Bidding process or otherwise, and the Bidder shall maintain strict confidentiality in
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 110 of 191
respect of such Confidential Information, and in no event a degree of confidentiality less than
the Bidder uses to protect its own confidential and proprietary information. The Bidder also
agrees:
a. to maintain and use the Confidential Information only for the purposes of bidding for this
RFP and thereafter only as expressly permitted herein;
b. to only make copies as specifically authorized by the prior written consent of the
Purchaser and with the same confidential or proprietary notices as may be printed or
displayed on the original;
c. to restrict access and disclosure of Confidential Information to their employees, agents,
and representatives strictly on a "need to know" basis, to maintain confidentiality of the
Confidential Information disclosed to them in accordance with this clause; and
d. to treat Confidential Information as confidential unless and until Purchaser expressly
notifies the Bidder of release of its obligations in relation to the said Confidential
Information.
4. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Bidder acknowledges that the nature of activities to be
performed as part of the Bidding process or thereafter may require the Bidder’s personnel to
be present on premises of the Purchaser or may require the Bidder’s personnel to have
access to software, hardware, computer networks, databases, documents and storage media
of the Purchaser while on or off premises of the Purchaser. It is understood that it would be
impractical for the Purchaser to monitor all information made available to the Bidder’s
personnel under such circumstances and to provide notice to the Bidder of the confidentiality
of all such information.
Therefore, the Bidder shall disclose or allow access to the Confidential Information only to
those personnel of the Bidder who need to know it for the proper performance of their duties in
relation to this project, and then only to the extent reasonably necessary. The Bidder will take
appropriate steps to ensure that all personnel to whom access to the Confidential Information
is given are aware of the Bidder’s confidentiality obligation. Further, the Bidder shall procure
that all personnel of the Bidder are bound by confidentiality obligation in relation to all
proprietary and Confidential Information received by them which is no less onerous than the
confidentiality obligation under this agreement.
5. The Bidder shall establish and maintain appropriate security measures to provide for the safe
custody of the Confidential Information and to prevent unauthorised access to it.
6. The Bidder agrees that upon termination/expiry of this Agreement or at any time during its
currency, at the request of the Purchaser, the Bidder shall promptly deliver to the Purchaser
the Confidential Information and copies thereof in its possession or under its direct or indirect
control, and shall destroy all memoranda, notes and other writings prepared by the Bidder or
its Affiliates or directors, officers, employees or advisors based on the Confidential
Information and promptly certify such destruction.
7. Confidential Information shall at all times remain the sole and exclusive property of the
Purchaser. Upon completion of the Bidding process and/or termination of the contract or at
any time during its currency, at the request of the Purchaser, the Bidder shall promptly deliver
to the Purchaser the Confidential Information and copies thereof in its possession or under its
direct or indirect control, and shall destroy all memoranda, notes and other writings prepared
by the Bidder or its Affiliates or directors, officers, employees or advisors based on the
Confidential Information within a period of sixty days from the date of receipt of notice, or
destroyed, if incapable of return. The destruction shall be witnessed and so recorded, in
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 111 of 191
writing, by an authorized representative of the Purchaser. Without prejudice to the above the
Bidder shall promptly certify to the Purchaser, due and complete destruction and return.
Nothing contained herein shall in any manner impair rights of the Purchaser in respect of the
Confidential Information.
8. In the event that the Bidder hereto becomes legally compelled to disclose any Confidential
Information, the Bidder shall give sufficient notice and render best effort assistance to the
Purchaser to enable the Purchaser to prevent or minimize to the extent possible, such
disclosure. Bidder shall not disclose to a third party any Confidential Information or the
contents of this RFP without the prior written consent of the Purchaser. The obligations of this
Clause shall be satisfied by handling Confidential Information with the same degree of care,
which the Bidder applies to its own similar Confidential Information but in no event less than
reasonable care.
For and on behalf of:
(BIDDER)
Authorised Signatory Office Seal:
Name: Place:
Designation: Date :
Note: The Bidder shall execute a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) as per above format, in
favour of the Purchaser before signing of the contract
5.14 Pre-Bid Query Format
The queries should necessarily be submitted in the following format:
Bidder’s Request for Clarification
Name and Address of the
Organization submitting request
Name and Position of
Person submitting request
Contact Details of the
Organization or Authorized
Representative
Tel:
Fax:
Email:
S. No
RFP Reference
Content of RFP requiring
clarification
Points of clarification
required Section Page
No.
Clause
No.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 112 of 191
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 113 of 191
5.15 Proforma for Statement of Deviations from Tender Conditions
PROFORMA FOR STATEMENT OF DEVIATIONS FROM TENDER CONDITIONS
The following are the of deviations from the requirements of the Instructions to Tenderers
in section II & General Conditions of Contract and Special conditions given in section III of tender
document.
CLAUSE DEVIATION REMARKS (Including Justification)
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 114 of 191
5.16 Intentionally Kept Blank
5.17 Pre-Contract Integrity Pact
INTEGRITY PACT
This pre-bid pre-contract Agreement (hereinafter called the integrity pact) is made on _____ day
of ____, 2021 between Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited (hereinafter
referred as “IRCTC”), which expression shall mean and include, unless the context otherwise
requires, his successors in office and assigns.
And
…………… hereinafter referred to as “The Bidder/Contract actor” which expression shall mean
and include, unless the context otherwise requires, his successors in office and assigns
Preamble
The IRCTC intends to award, under laid down organizational procedures. Contract/s for
……………………….The IRCTC values full compliance with all relevant laws of the land, rules,
regulations. Economic use of resources and of fairness/transparency in its relations with its
bidder(s) and / or contractor(s).
In order to achieve these goals, the IRCTC has appointed Independent External Monitors (IEMs)
who will monitor the tender process and the execution of the contract for compliance with the
principles mentioned above.
Section 1- Commitments of the IRCTC
(i) The IRCTC commits itself to take all measures necessary to prevent corruption and to
observe the following principles:
(a) No employee of the IRCTC, personally or through family members, will in connection with the
tender for, or the execution of a contract, demand, take a promise for or accept, for self or
third person , any material or immaterial benefit which the person is not legally entitled to.
(b) The IRCTC will during the tender process treat all bidder(s) with equity and reason. The
IRCTC will in particular, before and during the tender process, provide to any bidder(s)
confidential/additional information through which the Bidder(s) could obtain an advantage in
relation to the tender process or the contract execution.
(c) The IRCTC will exclude from the process all known prejudiced persons.
(ii) If the IRCTC obtains information on the conduct of any of its employees which is a criminal
offence under the IPC/PC Act, or if there be a substantive suspicion in this regard, the IRCTC
will inform the Chief Vigilance Officer and in addition can initiate disciplinary actions.
Section 2- Commitments of the Bidder(s)/Contractor(s)
1) The Bidder(s)/Contractor(s) commit themselves to take all measure to prevent corruption.
The Bidder(s)/ Contractor(s) commit themselves to observe the following principles during
participation in the tender process and during the contract execution.
(a) The Bidder(s)/Contractor(s) will not, directly or through any other person or firm, offer,
promise or give to any of the IRCTC’s employees involved in the tender process or the
execution of the contract or to any third person any material or other benefit which he/she is
not legally entitled to, in order to obtain in exchange any advantage of any kind whatsoever
during the tender process or during the execution of the contract.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 115 of 191
(b) The Bidder(s) Contractor(s) will not enter with other Bidders into any undisclosed agreement
or understanding, whether formal or informal. This applies in particular to prices,
specification, certifications, subsidiary contracts, submission or non-submission of bids or
any other actions to restrict competitiveness or to introduce cartelisation in the bidding
process.
(c) The Bidder(s) Contractor(s) will not commit any offence under the relevant IPC/PC Act,
further the Bidder(s) Contractor(s) will not use improperly, for purpose of competition or
personal gain or pass on to others, any information or document provided by the IRCTC as
part of the business relationship, regarding plans, technical proposals and business details
including information contained or transmitted electronically.
(d) The Bidder(s) Contractor(s) of foreign origin shall disclose the name and address of the
Agents/representatives in India, if any. Similarly the Bidder(s) Contractor(s) of Indian
Nationality shall furnish the name and address of the foreign IRCTCs, if any. Further details
as mentioned in the “Guidelines on Indian Agents of Foreign Suppliers” shall be disclosed by
the Bidder(s) Contractor(s). Further, as mentioned in the Guidelines all the payments made
to the Indian agent/representative have to be in Indian Rupees only.
(e) The Bidder(s) Contractor(s) will, when presenting their bid, disclose any and all payments
made, is committed to or intends to make to agents, brokers or any other intermediaries in
connection with the award of the contract.
(f) Bidder(s) Contractor(s) who have signed the Integrity Pact shall not approach the courts
while representing the matter to IEMs and shall wait for their decision in the matter.
(2) The Bidder(s) Contractor(s) will not instigate third persons to commit offences outlined above
or be an accessory to such offences.
Section 3 - Disqualifications from tender process and exclusion from future contracts
If Bidder(s) Contractor(s) before award or during execution has committed a transgression
through a violation of Section 2, above or in any other form such as to put their reliability or
credibility in question, the IRCTC is entitled to disqualify the Bidder(s) Contractor(s) from the
tender process or take action as per the procedure mentioned in the “Guidelines on Banning of
business dealings”.
Section 4 - Compensation for Damages
1) If the IRCTC has disqualified the Bidder(s) from the tender process prior to the award
according to Section 3, the IRCTC is entitled to demand and recover the damages equivalent
to Earnest Money Deposit/ Bid Security.
2) IRCTC is entitled to terminate the contract according to section 3, the IRCTC shall be entitled
to demand and recover from the contractor liquidated damages of the contract value or the
amount equivalent to Performance Bank Guarantee.
Section 5- Previous Transgression
The Bidder declares that no previous transgressions occurred in the last three years with any
other company in any country conforming to the anti corruption approach or with any public sector
enterprises in India that could justify his exclusion from the tender process.
(1) If the bidder makes incorrect statement on this subject, he can be disqualified from the
tender process or action can be taken as per the procedure mentioned in “ Guidelines on
Banning of Business dealings”.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 116 of 191
Section 6- Equal Treatment of all Bidders/Contractors/ Subcontractors
(1) In case of sub-coordinating, the IRCTC contractor shall take the responsibility of the
adoption of Integrity Pact by the sub-contractor.
(2) The IRCTC will enter in to agreements with identical conditions as this one with all Bidders
and Contractors.
(3) The IRCTC will disqualify from the tender process all bidders who do not sign this pact
or violate its provisions.
Section 7- Criminal charges against violating Bidder(s) /Contractor(s) / Subcontractor(s)
If the IRCTC obtains knowledge of conduct of a Bidder, Contractor or subcontractor, or of
an employee or a representative or an associate of a bidder, contractor or subcontractor which
constitutes corruption, or if the IRCTC has substantive suspicion in this regard, the IRCTC will
inform the same to the Chief Vigilance Officer.
Section 8- Independent External Monitor
(1) The IRCTC appoints competent and credible Independent external monitor for this pact after
approval by Central Vigilance Commission. The task of the monitor is to review independently
and objectively, whether and to what extent the parties comply with the obligations under this
agreement.
(2) The IRCTC has appointed Independent Monitors (hereinafter referred to as Monitors) for this
Pact in consultation with the Central Vigilance Commission.
a) Dr. Pravez Hayat, IPS (Retd.), E-mail.- phayatips@gmail.com
(3) The Monitor is not subject to instructions by the representatives of the parties and performs
his/her functions neutrally and independently. The Monitor would have access to all contract
documents, whenever required. It will be obligatory for him/ her to treat the information and
documents of the Bidders/Contractors as confidential. He/ She reports to the CMD IRCTC.
(4) The Bidder(s)/Contractor(s) accepts that the Monitor has the right to access without restriction
to all project documentation of the IRCTC including that provided by the Contractor. The
Contractor will also grant the Monitor upon his/her request and demonstration of a valid
interest, unrestricted the unconditional access to their project documentation. The same is
applicable to sub-contractors.
(5) The Monitor is under contractual obligation to treat the information and documents of the
bidder(s)/ contractor(s)/ Sub contractor(s) with confidentially. The Monitor has also signed
declaration on ‘Non-Disclosure of confidential Information’ and of ‘ Absence of conflict of
interest’. In case of any conflict of interest arising at a later date, the IEM shall inform CMD,
IRCTC and rescue himself/herself from that case.
(6) The IRCTC will provide to the Monitor sufficient information about all meetings among the
parties related to the project provided such meetings could have an impact on the contractual
relations between the IRCTC and the contractor. The parties offer to the Monitor the option to
participate in such meetings.
(7) As soon As the monitor notices, or believes to notice, a violation of this agreement, he/she will
so inform the management of the IRCTC and request the management to discontinue or take
corrective action, or to take other relevant action. The monitor can in this regard submit non-
binding recommendations. Beyond this, the monitor has no right to demand from the parties
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 117 of 191
that they act in a specific manner, refrain from action or tolerate action.
(8) The Monitor will submit a written report to the CMD, IRCTC within 8 to 10 weeks from the date
of reference or intimation to him by the IRCTC and should the occasion arise, submit
proposals for correcting problematic situations.
(9) If the monitor has reported to the CMD IRCTC, a substantiated suspicion of an offence under
relevant IPC/PC ACT, and the CMD IRCTC has not, within the reasonable time taken visible
action to proceed against such offence or reported it to the Chief Vigilance Officer, the monitor
may also transmit this information directly to the Central Vigilance Commissioner.
(10) The Word ‘Monitor’ would include both singular and plural.
Section 9- Pact Duration
This pact begins when both parties have legally signed it, It expires for the contractor 12 months
after the last payment under the contract, and for all other Bidders 6 months after the contract has
been awarded. Any violation of the same would entail disqualification of the bidders and exclusion
from future business dealings.
If any claim made/ lodged during this time, the same shall be binding and continue to be valid
despite the lapse of this pact as specified above, unless it is discharged/determined by the CMD
of IRCTC.
Section 10- Other Provisions
(1) This agreement is subject to Indian Law. Place of performance and Jurisdiction is the
Registered Office of the IRCTC, i.e. New Delhi.
(2) Changes and supplements as well as termination notices need to be made in writing. Side
agreements have not been made.
(3) If the contractor is a partnership or a consortium, this agreement must be signed by all
partners or consortium members.
(4) Should one or several provisions of this agreement turn out be invalid, the remainder of
this agreement remains valid. In this case, the parties will strive to come to an agreement
to their original intentions.
(5) Issues like Warranty/Guarantee etc. shall be outside the purview of IEMs.
(6) In the event of any contradiction between the Integrity Pact and its Annexure, the clause in
the Integrity Pact will prevail.
_______________________________ _______________________________
(For & On behalf of the IRCTC) (For & On behalf of Bidder/Contractor)
(Office Seal) (Office Seal)
Place ………………
Date ………………
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 118 of 191
Witness 1:
(Name & Address) _______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
Witness 2:
(Name & Address) _______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 119 of 191
5.18 Performa of Security Deposit
Proforma Of Bank Guarantee for contract Security Deposit (SD) Ref……………. Date …………….
Bank Guarantee No…………………………………………………………
To GGM/Services, Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd, Punj House , M-13, Connaught Place, New Delhi – 110001. 1. Against contract vide Advance Acceptance of the Tender No…………………………. dated
……………………….covering supply/ installation/commissioning of
…………………………………… (hereinafter called the ‘Contract’), entered into between the
GGM/Services/IRCTC (hereinafter called the IRCTC) and……………………………
(hereinafter called the ‘Contractor’) this is to certify that at the require of the Contractor we
…………………………………………Bank Ltd., are holding in trust in favour of the
GGM/Services/IRCTC, the amount of ………………………………. (write the sum here in
words) to indemnify and keep indemnified the GGM/Services/IRCTC against any loss or
damage that may be caused or likely to be caused to or suffered by GGM/Services/IRCTC
by reason of any breach by the Contractor of any of the terms and conditions of the said
contract and/or the performance thereof whether any breach of any of the terms and
conditions of the said contract and or in the performance thereof has been committed by the
Contractor and amount of loss or damage that has been caused or suffered by
GGM/Services/IRCTC shall be final and binding on us and the amount of the said loss or
damage shall be paid by us forth with on demand and without demur to
GGM/Services/IRCTC.
2. We, …………………Bank Ltd., further agree that the guarantee herein contained shall
remain in full force and effect during the period that would be taken for satisfactory
performance and fulfilment in all respects of the said contract by the Contractor i.e. till
…………………………(viz. the date up to 6 months after the last date of contract
period/warranty on goods/services supplied under the contract) hereinafter called the “said
date” and that if any claim accrues or arises against us, …………………….Bank Ltd., by
virtue of this guarantee before the said date, the same shall be enforceable against us
………………………………… Bank Ltd., notwithstanding the fact that the same is enforced
within six months after the said date. Payment under this letter of guarantee shall be made
promptly upon our receipt of notice to that effect from IRCTC.
3. It is fully understood that this guarantee is effective from the date of the said contract and
that we……Bank Ltd., undertake not to revoke this guarantee during its currency without the
consent in writing of IRCTC.
4. We …………………………………..Bank Ltd., further agree that the IRCTC shall have the
fullest liberty, without affecting in any manner our obligations hereunder to vary any of the
terms and conditions of the said contract or to extend time of performance by the Contractor
from time to time or to postpone for any time or from time to time any of the powers
exercisable by IRCTC against the said Contractor and to forbear or enforce any of the terms
and conditions relating to the said contract and We ……………………….Bank Ltd., shall not
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 120 of 191
be released from our liability under this guarantee by reason of any such variation of
extension being granted to the said Contractor or for any forbearance and or omission on the
part of IRCTC or any indulgence by IRCTC to the said Contractor or by any other matter the
effect of so releasing us from our liability under this guarantee.
5. We ………………………………………. Bank Ltd. further agree that the guarantee herein
contained shall not be affected by any change in the constitution of the said Contractor.
Date……………… Signature ………………….
Place ………………. Printed Name…………….
Witness ……………… ……………………………. (Designation)
………………………………………. (Bank’s Common Seal)
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 121 of 191
5.19 Financial Bid Letter (Packet-B of Bid)
FINANCIAL BID
Bidder’s Name: ..............................................................................................................................
Tender Reference: E-Tender No. 2021/IRCTC/SERVICES/IRHES/139 dated :
Prices should be quoted in Indian Rupees and indicated both in figures and words. Price in words will prevail,
in the event of any mismatch.
The bidder shall submit the rate schedule strictly as per the format mentioned below :
Item Description
Quote* (refer
clause 2.27
on page 42 of
tender
document)
Positive
or
Negative
Cost per Call
Exclusive of
GST
In Figures
Rate of GST
on Quoted
Cost per
Call
GST
Amount
Total Cost
per Call In
Figures
Total
Cost per
Call In
Words
I II III IV V=III*IV/100 VI=III+V VII
IRHES-139 (Services) -
Design, Development,
Implementation and
Maintenance of the
Integrated Railways
Helpline & Enquiry
System-139 (‘Services’) As
per Scope of work and
other terms & conditions of
the tender document for a
period of 5 years
*In case of Negative quote- Bidder will pay to IRCTC and in case of Positive quote- IRCTC will pay to bidder, for the contract period of five years. We hereby submit our Financial Offer for the captioned project. If the project is awarded to us, we agree to
make/receive the following payments to IRCTC as per the terms given in the Bid Document and resultant legal
agreement.
If the project is awarded to us, we also agree to sign the legal agreement to be provided by IRCTC and submit
the necessary security deposit (and JV continuity bank guarantee if applicable/asked by IRCTC ) within 30
days of issue of Letter of Award by IRCTC.
We agree to pay/charge the above cost per call, exclusive of GST. The amount/License Fees will be
calculated and paid on quarterly basis.
This offer is being made by us after taking into consideration all terms and conditions stated in the Bid
document and after careful assessment of all risks and contingencies and all other conditions that may affect
the Bid.
We agree to keep our offer valid for 180 days from the date of submission of this Bid.
(Financial Bid Template to be signed digitally & submitted online on the tenderwizard portal)
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 122 of 191
5.20 Security Requirements
Bidder should provide following security components for data security and protection of IRHES 139. It is
mandatory to qualify to all the security requirements. In case the Bidder does not meet any one of the
conditions, the bidder will be disqualified.
The OEM of the offered product/service should be in Magic Quadrants for the latest report published by
Gartner (or in Forrester Wave) up to the time of closing of Tender or can be proprietary solution of the cloud
vendors.
Firewall
S.no. Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
a The solution shall protect & scale against dynamic latest security threats
b The solution shall support operating in routed & transparent mode
c The solution shall support QoS features like traffic prioritization, differentiated services, committed access rate for defining the QoS policies, etc.
d The solution shall support web based (HTTP and HTTPS) configuration and management
e The solution shall support static NAT; Policy based NAT and PAT
f
The solution shall support dynamic routing over the VPN. The solution shall support secure socket layer, which has to be implemented by the MSP. The solution shall have IPSec VPN for both Site-Site & Remote Access VPN
g The solution shall have next generation firewall functionalities
h The perimeter and internal firewall shall of different make
i The solution shall monitor east to west traffic
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
Sl.No. Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
a
The data collected by cloud platform from the infrastructure of IRHES 139 shall reside within the territory of India only. No Data in any form shall pass or store outside India
b The solution shall provide single view of the entire cloud estate with dashboard that provides real-time visibility
c
The solution shall provide enhanced analytics capability with intuitive business intelligence query interface to help analysts identify relationships between events and system data flows so they can resolve threats quickly
d The solution shall provide the collection of events through customization of connectors or parsers or similar integration
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 123 of 191
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
Sl.No. Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
e The SIEM receiver or log collection component must store the data locally if communication with centralized correlators is unavailable
f The platform must allow customers to define either whitelist or blacklists that can be used as inclusion or exemption during the correlation process.
g The solution shall provide a single plane of glass view for all events and incidents across the organization and shall provide Real Time Analysis and Reporting
h The data collected from the receiver shall be forwarded in an encrypted manner or encrypted channel to SIEM log storage
i The solution shall provide Audit and Operations based report, Native support for Incident management workflow
j The solution shall be capable of retrieving the archived logs for analysis, correlation, reporting and for forensic purposes
k
The solution shall have the ability of integrating with cloud intelligence system with information related to global risks and use the information collected in this system in the correlation of events
l Correlation rules out of the box shall be supported, so as to provide correlation on the fly as relevant to organization
m The solution shall have an exhaustive incident tracking system that can track, investigate and resolve events in workflow like environment
n The solution shall allow the creation of unlimited number of new correlation rules, as well as the customization of existing rules
o The solution shall be able to collect data from new solution added to the environment, without any disruption on the ongoing data collection
p The solution shall provide a formula of threat which shall be customized to allow increasing or decreasing level of risk
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 124 of 191
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
Sl.No. Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
q The solution shall be able to facilitate customized dashboard creation and supporting dynamic display of events graphically
r The solution shall provide storage of raw logs for forensic analysis
s The solution shall provide configurable data retention policy based on organization requirement
Patch Management
Sl.No. Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
a The solution shall scan the platforms within the network for missing security patches. The detection shall be automated and will trigger the patch
b
The solution shall be able to download the Windows/Linux patches as soon as it is available and published by Windows/Linux without any delay /lag to repackage the patch separately such that the Time Window for Vulnerability is least
c The solution shall support ability to enforce a “run-in-window” to prevent patching during restricted hours
d The patch deadlines shall be enforced independently of the advertise schedule
e The solution shall support easy transitions from pilot to production deployment
f The solution shall be able to determine patch dependencies prior to deployment of patches to the nodes
g The solution rollback and backup restoration facilities shall be available
h Patches shall be tested before deployment
i The latest fixes/ updates shall be downloaded to the Patch Management server on the same day that the patch is made available on software vendors websites
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 125 of 191
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
Sl.No. Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
a The solution shall provide specialized application threat protection
b
The solution shall protect against application-level attacks targeted at web applications, must address application layer attacks from at least but not limited to OWASP Top 10 and SANS Top 25
c The solution shall provide bi-directional protection against sophisticated threats like SQL injection and cross-site scripting
d The solution shall monitor and enforce government regulations, industry best practices and internal policies
e The solution shall have controls for Anti Web Defacement and provide ability to check the authorized version of the website content
f The solution shall prevent attacks such as encoding attacks, buffer overflows, SYN-flood type of attacks and other application specific attacks
g The solution shall provide ability to allow or deny a specific URL access
h The solution shall be able to control BOT traffic and it shall be able to block known bad bots and fake search engine requests
i The solution shall have the capability to auto-learn security profiles required to protect the environment
j The solution shall detect brute force attack against any part of the applications
k The solution shall be able to protect Cookie Poisoning and Cookie Tampering
l
The solution shall have the capability to do vulnerability scan (by default or by integration) shall identify vulnerabilities such as XSS, SQL injection, Source code disclosure, Common web server vulnerabilities etc
m The solution shall support Role Based Access Control for Management
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 126 of 191
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
Sl.No. Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
n The solution shall support two Factor Authentication and SSL transactions
o The solution shall have ability to identify and notify solution faults and loss of performance
Hardware Security Module (HSM)
Sl.No. Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
a The solution shall support Operating Systems including but not limited to Linux, Windows, Solaris, HP-UX, etc.
b The solution shall be compliant with FIPS Level 2 certified HSM required for managing Certificates for devices and VoIP servers
c The solution shall support the standard algorithms as per the CCA Guidelines
d The solution shall also support automatic synchronization of keys between HSM Systems
e The solution shall share keys between HSMs in different operating locations to enable load sharing and hardware fault tolerance
f The remote administration of the HSM solution shall be possible
g The solution shall be capable of overall key management (creation, access, archival, destruction)
h The solution shall support secured backup of HSM rules and settings
Monitoring
Sl.No. Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 127 of 191
Monitoring
Sl.No. Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
a
The solution shall support Infrastructure Monitoring
b
The solution shall support Real time monitoring of on-premise, hybrid and MPLS networks for loss, latency and bandwidth utilization.
c
The solution shall allow to observe historical trends of response time and latency. Correlate network data with application data to isolate fault in the network
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 128 of 191
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
a. The proposed solution shall help in preventing data leak from mail, network and endpoints
b. The proposed solution shall be able to identify critical data and categorise it
c. The proposed solution shall maintain audit logs that track administrator activity
d.
The proposed solution shall provide a very fine-grained access control allowing creation of roles with any combination of permissions
e. The proposed solution shall be able to make custom policy
f. The proposed solution shall allow creating policies applicable to individual users or groups
g.
The same policy shall be applicable for the defined content in all possible locations - data at rest, data in motion and data in use
h. The proposed solution shall provide detection capabilities across all threats
i.
The proposed solution shall support segregated mechanism to define policy and content definition allowing the same content discovery definition to be used by multiple policies and each policy to act on multiple content discover definition
j. The proposed solution shall define and implement data security in the life cycle of the data
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 129 of 191
Anti-APT (File, Network, Email, Endpoints)
Minimum Technical Functionalities
Compliance Reference (Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
a The Solution shall have ability to detect malicious traffic in Network, Web and Endpoints
b
The solution shall be able to detect and prevent advanced Malware, Zero-day attack, spear phishing attack, targeted Advanced Persistent Threat etc without relying on just Signature database
c The solution shall perform dynamic real-time analysis of advanced malware on the solution itself to confirm true zero-day and targeted attacks
d The solution shall automatically detect and confirm multistage zero-day malware and targeted attacks without prior knowledge of the malware
e The solution shall utilize a state-full attack analysis to detect the entire infection lifecycle, and trace the stage-by-stage analysis of an advanced attack
f The solution shall capture, and store packet captures of traffic relevant to the analysis of detected threats
g The solution shall have the ability to do on-demand scanning and continuous scanning
h The solution must be able to perform a pre-assessment scan of the file server
i
The solution shall have the ability to scan and analyse emails to identify malicious attachments or URLs in real-time and quarantine emails with malicious attachments or URLs
j
The solution shall provide ability to create a quarantine share/folder and move malicious files to that share/folder as well as the ability to create a good share/folder and the ability to move clean files to that share/folder
K The solution shall provide visibility into scan histories of each file scanned that are aborted, completed, or in progress
l The solution must support typo- squatting attack detection for all sender domain & url domain in email body
m The solution may have capability to identify the payload information of APT including the origin and code information
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 130 of 191
Anti-DDoS
Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
a The solution shall be capable of preventing all type of DDoS attacks which impacts IRHES services hosted on Internet
b The solution shall allow protection parameters to be changed while a protection is running, such change must not cause traffic interruption
c The solution shall protect from multiple attack vectors on different layers at the same time with combination of Network, Application and Server-side attacks
d The solution shall provide protection for Volumetric, Protocol and Application layer-based DDoS attacks
e The solution shall have an updated threat feed that describes new malicious traffic (botnets, phishing, etc.)
f The solution shall be capable to mitigate and detect both inbound and outbound traffic
g The solution shall provide real time detection and protection from unknown Network DDOS attacks
h The solution shall have mitigation mechanism for protection against zero-day DoS and DDoS attacks without manual intervention
i The solution shall be able to detect and block SYN Flood attacks and shall support different mechanism
j The solution shall protect from Brute Force and dictionary attacks
k The solution shall be able to detect and block Zombie Floods
l The solution shall be able to detect and block ICMP & DNS Floods
m The solution shall detect and mitigate from Low/Slow scanning attacks
n The solution shall detect and mitigate from Proxy & volumetric Scanning
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 131 of 191
Anti-DDoS
Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
o The solution shall support dedicated DNS protection from DDoS
p The solution shall support suspension of traffic blacklisting from offending source based on a signature/attack detection
q The solution shall support prevention of malware propagation attacks
r The solution shall support prevention of anti-evasion mechanisms
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 132 of 191
Database Activity Monitoring (DAM)
Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
a.
The solution shall be able to monitor all database activities and provide protection against insiders with privileged access
b
The solution shall provide granular monitoring of database transactions with real-time alerts and prevention of breaches
c
The solution shall provide granular monitoring of queries, objects and stored procedures with real-time alerts and prevention of breaches
d
The solution shall provide flexible rules that allow enforcement of corporate security policy with no “false positive” alerts
e
The solution shall provide protection of newly discovered and Zero-Day database vulnerabilities, providing immediate protection without the need for patching the database
f The solution shall provide multiple user roles that facilitate separation of duties
g The solution shall easily monitor Access to sensitive data
h
The solution shall provide the ability to independently monitor and audit all database activity, including administrator's activity and selected transactions
i The solution shall have the ability to generate alert on policy violations
j. The solution shall have the ability to create custom reports and organize on a personalized portal view
k. The solution shall have the ability to perform audits on a specific user and review all commands executed
L. The solution shall monitor all access to the database
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 133 of 191
Two Factor Authentication
Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.)
(Yes/No)
a Two factor access control shall be provided for the initial registration and update of the IRHES accounts
Apart from above components, bidder should deploy solution which provides following services:
Other Services / Features
Sl.No. Security Component / Features Compliance Reference
(Document/Page No.) (Yes/No)
a Anti-Virus and end point protection on desktops and servers with centrally managed platform
b IDAM (SSO, MFA, PIM) and Access Control for all the
applications
c Regular VA and PT
d Anti-Telephony Denial-of-Service (TDoS)
e
Call recording storage Data Encryption: All the archived data
should be replicated to DR location and should provide read
only access from replicated copy
f Read only access to Call recording storage
g Logging and Auditing
h Compliance to SOC 1, SOC 2, ISO27001, ISO27017,
ISO27018, ISO27701 Certifications
5.20.1 Data Analytics Functional Specification Requirements
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 134 of 191
Data Analytics Functional Specification Requirements
S.no Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Yes/No
Reference (Document/Page
no.)
1. The proposed solution should be a COTS based advanced analytics solution which will be utilized to implement the intelligent call centre analytics solution at IRCTC-139; the solution should have single unified interface with end-to-end capabilities for data preparation/quality, visualization & exploration, advanced analytics, Machine Learning/AI, natural language processing & model deployment, from one single user interface, thereby helping them make better decisions faster.
2. The proposed solution should provide capability for various machine learning & natural language capability to better understand the citizens sentiments & enhance experience by analyze data from various social media sites, grievance portals & forums, conduct sentiment analysis identifying number of positive & negative sentiments.
3. The solution should be able to extract topics (text categorization) that identifies drivers of poor customer experience based on textual data. Topic modelling can also help with post-call analytics to mitigate repeat callers, mapping callers to the right agent (agent routing), improved agent training to better handle calls in future. With augmented predictive power of customer-centric models by utilizing extracted topics used as input features in modelling framework to improve model significance and Identify agent traits and behavioural elements that improves agent effectiveness.
4. The proposed solution should analyse the historical citizen level transactional & transcripts data for various citizen services and utilize machine learning based algorithms to develop recommendation engine to provide citizen centric recommendation to enhance their customer experience. Understand the conversation topics/category, citizen sentiments based on their transcripts data and provide various services level recommendations to enhance their user experience.
5. The solution should provide various analytics driven reports and dashboards to analyse the agent performance, operational performance, IVR reporting, FCR (First Call resolution) analysis, sentiment analysis etc. based on various key performance indicators to assess overall view of current CRIS 139 systems.
6. The proposed OEM advanced analytics & machine learning solution platform must be cloud-agnostics solution and can be deployed on any cloud service providers.
7. The proposed OEM solution platform must
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 135 of 191
Data Analytics Functional Specification Requirements
S.no Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Yes/No
Reference (Document/Page
no.)
support containerization using docker and container orchestration using Kubernetes. The solution should be built as a micro service deployable on an Enterprise Grade Open Container Platform (such as Docker and container orchestration using Kubernetes /Kuberflow etc.), which allows for the platform to be deployed on premise/ private clouds or any public cloud infrastructure platform.
8. The proposed Analytics OEM for Data Science and Machine Learning Tool which bidder proposes to use during implementation of project must be from latest Gartner’s magic quadrant leader’s list/equivalent position in Forrester wave/ leader in IDC marketspace (As a supporting document the bidder must provide for relevant report of latest Gartner’s magic quadrant leader’s list/ equivalent position in Forrester wave/report of IDC)or can be proprietary solution of the cloud vendors.
9. The proposed OEM platform should have been implemented for at least four Indian state/central government department for utilizing text analytics & natural language processing on citizen data /grievance data in last 5 years. OEM need to share respective Purchase Orders for the same.
10. The platform must support multiple authentication modes including LDAP, Kerberos, Oauth/OpenID, SAML, PAM & Multi-factor authentication.
11. The proposed solution should combine data wrangling, data exploration, visualization, feature engineering, statistical techniques, data mining and machine learning techniques all in a single, integrated in-memory processing pipeline environment.
12. The solution should also provide features for "AutoML"(Automated Machine Learning/AI) capability to automatic develop machine learning pipeline in order to automate the machine learning model development process i.e. to automatically performs data feature engineering, feature selection, model building, hyper-parameter tuning, model training/validation, multiple machine learning model comparison, and model selection.
13. The proposed solution "AutoML" pipeline should also provide features to allows end-users to easily edit and enhance the auto-generated pipelines within the point-and-click GUI Visual interface.
14. The proposed solution should have modern statistical, data mining and machine-learning techniques like:
I. Unsupervised and supervised learning algorithms, such as clustering, principal component analysis, linear and nonlinear
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 136 of 191
Data Analytics Functional Specification Requirements
S.no Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Yes/No
Reference (Document/Page
no.)
regression, GLM, logistic regression, Generalized Additive Model
II. Automated ensemble of decision trees, III. Gradient boosting with automated
generation of weighted averages, iterative search and stopping criteria,
IV. Random forests with automated intelligent tuning of parameter set to identify optimal model
V. Customizable neural networks architecture and weights with ability to use an arbitrary number of hidden layers to support deep learning - CNN, DNN, RNN, autoencoders etc.
VI. Support vector machines with linear and polynomial kernels and automated intelligent tuning of parameter set to identify optimal model
VII. Factorization machines to allow customized recommendation systems
VIII. T-distributed stochastic neighbour embedding (t-SNE)
IX. Semi supervised learning algorithm: Returns the predicted labels for both the unlabelled data table and the labelled data table.
X. Model comparison – compare multiple machine learning models based on defined error metrics and select champion model based on lowest error and identify respective challenger model(s).
15. The proposed solution should provide results of Machine Learning models to be tightly coupled and analysed further into visualization environment
16. The proposed solution should be able to generate score code in multiple languages (such as native programming language, REST API) for model consumption on new data.
17. The Proposed solution pipelines should be sharable across enterprise wide for collaborative sharing to adopt best practice templates for model development
18. The proposed solution should support wide range of Deep Learning algorithms like CNN, RNN, ResNet, VGG etc.
19. Solution should be open to ingest, and export models built in open source frameworks like tensorflow, Keras, Caffe etc.
20. The solution should have an out of box model governance, model metadata management, model centralized repository & deployment platform to set up, maintain and manage separate versions for models along with ability to select
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 137 of 191
Data Analytics Functional Specification Requirements
S.no Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Yes/No
Reference (Document/Page
no.)
champion and challenger models
21. The solution must provide autoscaling of model scoring microservices to ensure high availability of deployed models
22. The proposed solution should provide in built capabilities to govern model deployment by versioning the same and should support rollback to previous version in case of any issues.
23. The solution should also provide capability for model governance, model management and model deployment to provide ease to use interface manage various models, version control, model performance reports, streamline model lifecycle, deployment of model with operational application or dockers (if required) using REST APIs.
24. The solution should provide the model repository can be searched, queried, sorted, and filtered by different attributes such as type of asset, algorithm, input, or target variables, etc.
25. The solution should have capability to generate model performance reports for both champion and challenger models, such as variable distribution plots, lift charts, stability charts, ROC, K-S, Gini reports, etc. for at least classification models with binary target and prediction models with interval target.
26. The solution should have capability to generate custom model performance reports such no. of models in production, type of models, model build by line of business, algorithms in productions based on machine learning/open source/native code based; type of lift & model accuracy, etc. for analytics users to understand the patterns of model consumptions & decay rates.
27. The proposed solution should combine text wrangling, text data exploration, visualization, text parsing, topics, concepts, categories, and sentiment all in a single framework, integrated in-memory processing environment.
28. The proposed solution uses natural language processing (NLP) to analyse and transform text into formal representations for text processing and understanding. This includes automated text parsing, word and sentence tokenization, segmentation, stemming, compound decomposition, synonym detection, part-of-speech tagging, categorization documents, named entity recognition, Text Summarization, conditional random field, search, and semantic parsing. It should also directly support the use of regular expressions (REGEX) for matching purposes.
29. The proposed solution should support English and Hindi languages for Natural Language
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 138 of 191
Data Analytics Functional Specification Requirements
S.no Minimum Technical Functionalities Compliance Yes/No
Reference (Document/Page
no.)
Processing & Text Analytics actions.
30. The proposed solution should be capable to generate APIs in multiple languages like python, REST etc. for model scoring. Solution should provide capability to call analytical procedures and actions using open source programming languages (R, Python etc.)
31. Solution should capability text analytics results to be tightly coupled and further analyzed further in dashboarding environment. It should also provide document outputs modeling ready output for further integration with structured data for further analysis
32. The proposed solution shall be Easy‐ to‐ use, in-memory, self‐ service reporting tool that allow users to create dashboards & reports using a ‘drag & drop’, web-based, interactive exploration and analytical report-building interface
33. The proposed solution shall provide self-service exploration that provides interactive discovery of relationships, trends, outliers, etc. for business users and analysts.
I. Auto charting automatically chooses the graph best suited to display selected data.
II. Analytical visualizations include box plots, heat maps, animated bubble charts, network diagrams, correlation matrices, line charts with forecasting, parallel coordinates plots, donut charts, decision trees and more.
III. Geographical map views provide a quick understanding of geospatial data."
34. The proposed solution should provide capabilities to drill up and down on various hierarchies of the data and capability to create calculated, aggregated, or derived data items.
35. The proposed solution should enable the contents in a chart, tabular report, or visualization to be filtered by data values. Filtering is provided by features such as pull‐ down, list or slicers. The solution should also allow the user to drill‐ down from summarized to more detailed data and then drill up (i.e., go back to where they started)
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 139 of 191
5.21 Financial Information of the Bidder
<<To be completed by the Bidder, by each partner as appropriate to demonstrate that they meet the
requirements>>
<<On the letterhead of the Chartered Accountant>>
<<To be submitted along with Audited Financial Statements>>
Date:
To
GGM/Services IRCTC Office, Punj House
M-13, Connaught Place New delhi-110001
Dear Sir,
We have examined the books of accounts and other relevant records of <<Bidder Name, along with registered
address>>. On the basis of such examination and according to the information and explanation given to us,
and to the best of our knowledge & belief, we hereby certify that the annual turnover for the three years i.e.
from FY 2017-18 to FY 2019-20 was as per details given below:
Information from Balance Sheets (in Indian Rupees)
2017-18 2018-19 2019-2020
Annual Turnover
Networth
(Signature of the Chartered Accountant)
Name :
Designation :
Membership Number :
Date :
Company Seal :
Business Address :
UDIN No. :
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 140 of 191
5.22 Checklist of Technical Proposal Response (In Packet A of Bid)
SN. Checklist Submitted
(Yes / No)
Reference in
bid (File Name)
1 Notarized Power of Attorney executed by the Single Bidder / Prime Bidder
(in case of Sub-Contracting) in favour of the duly Authorized
Representative, certifying him as an authorized signatory for the purpose
of this RFP
2 Prime Bidder and Joint Venture detail (only in case of JV) as per Clause
5.2 of Section IV
3 Blacklisting undertaking in prescribed format as per Clause 5.3 of Section
IV
4 Response to Pre-qualification evaluation & Technical Evaluation qualifying
criteria (refer Clause 2.25 & 2.26 of Sec-II-ITB) in prescribed format with
supporting documents as per Clause 5.4 of Section IV
5 Relevant Experience List in prescribed format as per Clause 5.5 of Section
IV
6 Details of Manpower for the Project in prescribed format as per Clause 5.6
of Section IV
7 Curriculum Vitae (CV) of the proposed manpower in prescribed format as
per Clause 5.7 of Section IV
8 Technical Bid Submission letter in prescribed format as per Clause 5.8 of
Section IV
9 All Manufacturers Authorization Certificate in prescribed format as per
Clause 5.9 of Section IV
10 Overview of Proposed Solution in prescribed format as per Clause 5.10 of
Section IV
11 Bid Securing Declaration in prescribed format as per Clause 5.12 of
Section-IV.
12 Non-Disclosure Agreement in prescribed format as per Clause 5.13 of
Section IV
13 Proforma for Statement of Deviations from Tender Conditions in
prescribed format as per Clause 5.15 of Section IV
14 Pre-Contract Integrity Pact in prescribed format as per Clause 5.17 of
Section IV
15 Compliance to Security Requirements in prescribed format as per Clause
5.20 of Section IV
16 Financial Information of the Bidder in prescribed format as per Clause 5.21
of Section IV
17 Duly signed and stamped copy of RFP document with all amendments /
corrigendum / addendum
18 A Certificate for Compliance of OM of MoE dated 23.07.2020 on bidder/company letter head in reference to clause 2.35 Page 47 & 48 of tender document
19 Detailed design and drawing as required for installation of equipment and the scheme of layout and connection ( refer clause 3.22.8 of bid document)
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 141 of 191
Section V: Scope of Work
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 142 of 191
6 Section V: Scope of Work
6.14 About the Document
The intent of this document is to provide the detailed scope of work for partner agency who shall be
engaged for design, development, deployment, operations and maintenance of the IRHES 139 for
IRCTC.
IRCTC is inviting proposals for engaging reputed partner agency to undertake:
I. Contact Centre for IRHES 139
II. Cloud Service Provision
III. Operations and Maintenance of IRHES 139
IV. Capacity Building
6.15 Project Background
6.15.1 About IRCTC and Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR), managed directly by the Ministry of Railways, Government of India (GoI), is one of
the world’s largest railway network under a single management. With its network of 67,368 route km, IR
has played a critical role in integrating markets and connecting communities throughout the length and
breadth of the country. Railways in India are a tool for development, equity and integration of all parts to
the mainstream. Railways are considered critical not only from the standpoint of connecting remote
regions and providing affordable transportation services (especially passenger services) but also from
the perspective of defence movements, (which cannot be passed on to the private sector) and meeting
the transportation requirement in the wake of national emergencies and natural catastrophes.
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways
founded in 1999 to improve customer service verticals such as catering, ticketing and tourism. IRCTC
handles the Catering & Hospitality, Internet Ticketing, Travel &Tourism and Packaged Drinking Water
(RailNeer) operations of the Indian Railways. IRCTC aims at to be a technology driven customer-
oriented company through constant innovation and human resource development. When IRCTC
unveiled its online portal in 2002 “www.irctc.co.in”, few could have foreseen the ground-breaking impact
of this invention. IRCTC revolutionised the online ticketing for passengers and brought a
transformational change to the railway ticket booking space which was predominated by counter
booking and agent bookings.
IRCTC leads the category of travel e-commerce with the largest transaction share and dollar share. It
has achieved a tremendous growth in e-ticketing since inception with an increase from 27 tickets to
13.40 lakhs tickets per day. A total of 2841 lac tickets were booked in 2018-19 from IRCTC. In October
2019 IRCTC went public with its stock listing in BSE and NSE.
IRCTC envisages being one of the leading net centric companies. The rapid growth of www.irctc.co.in
in E-tickets is the result of their commitment of serving the customers, known as unmatched support,
and its exclusive focus on web. IRCTC would like to provide best value deal and high level of service to
its customers with the objective of expanding its customer base.
6.15.2 Project Objectives
IRCTC envisages the call centre on a “communication as a service” model/outsourced, to be developed
as a state-of-art Contact centre for Management & Operations of Customer Care Services for
Integrated Railway Helpline and Enquiry System (IRHES) on 139 number.
Key objectives of this project are:
1. User Experience Enhancement:
One of the dominant goals of 139 is to provide IR customers with simple, comprehensive, upgraded
and enhanced user experience. With better user experience 139 will aim to service more customers
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 143 of 191
for the railways.
2. Helpline and Enquiry Services Consolidation:
The efforts of Indian Railways have been distributed which has resulted in development of
independent contact centres, mobile apps and websites which are currently working in silos. So, one
of the objectives of 139 is to consolidate all the process and working modules related to enquiry and
helpline services over a single platform for providing better customer service and satisfaction for IR.
6.15.3 Guiding Principles
1. Act as one complete solution for all IR’s enquiry and helpline service
All enquiry and helpline services like PNR status, train enquiry, grievances, security helpline,
catering helpline etc. along with other related services must be comprehensively integrated and 139
should come out as One Stop Solution platform for every IR enquiry and helpline related service.
2. Provide precise and timely information to the customers
139 contact centre and app should provide their precise information while maintaining integrity and
have minimum drop off rate of users by providing them with timely and personalized services and
notifications.
3. Quick Turnaround time for transactions
139 should have be highly responsive to the user requests with minimal turnaround time for
accessing the information from PRS, NTES, helplines and other service partners.
4. Safe and Secure
a. All the data and information shared over contact centre should be safe and secured.
b. Usage of strong user authentication mechanisms and encryption algorithms is recommended for
data exchange with other systems involved in 139 contact centres.
5. 139 Contact Centre should be Scalable and Robust to changes
a. The solution should be scalable for new services and functionalities.
b. Every component needs to scale to a large volume.
c. Every component as well as the whole system needs to provide consistent and acceptable
performance even at very large scale.
d. Single point of bottleneck and failure must be avoided.
e. While upgrades and scaling-up, it is necessary that the platform supports earlier versions
especially when upgrading the APIs.
6. Minimum Time to market
Considering the importance and criticality of 139 contact centre number, time to market of 139
should be minimum and it should have a faster roll out with all IR enquiry and helpline services.
7. Interoperability
The platform needs to integrate and interoperate with various other internal/external entities, the
ability of the platform to easily and in a relatively seamless manner integrate with internal/external
entities, interoperate with multitude of technologies is a significant criterion while selecting the
technology.
8. Modularity
The modules of the platform need to interact with each other in a seamless manner, plugging in or
plugging out of the modules or functionality should not impact other modules of the platform. The
following are key considerations: -
a. Every component needs to scale to a large volume and be capable of handling large transaction
loads
b. Every component as well as the whole system needs to provide consistent and acceptable
performance even at scale
c. Single point of bottleneck and failure must be avoided
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 144 of 191
d. System should support asynchronous processing by enabling loosely coupled and messaging
architecture
6.15.4 Stakeholders Ecosystem
Following are the probable stakeholders under IRHES
S.no User Description Roles & Responsibilities
1 Railway Users The customers who
would be using Railway
139 services
• Utilize the services provided by the IRHES 139
• Provide feedback for the customer experience
of the IRHES 139 services
2 IRCTC Owner of Rail 139
helpline
• The system is being installed on the behalf of
IRCTC. All decisions about the project will be
taken by IRCTC. IRCTC will facilitate the
MSP’s interactions with CRIS and Railways at
all the locations. All supervision will be done by
IRCTC.
• IRCTC will coordinate with CRIS and Railways
for allotment of support services for the
housing of IVRS hardware and enabling
systems.
• IRCTC will facilitate the integration with
IRCTC’s websites and other applications
wherever necessary.
• IRCTC will nominate a project officer and
necessary staff for day-to-day monitoring as
well as quality audits at periodic intervals.
• IRCTC shall define the reporting/MIS formats
and the associated time schedules only.
3 Managed
Service Partner
of IRHES - 139
Selected bidder for
design, development,
operations and
maintenance of IRHES
139
• As per the detailed scope of work for partner agency who shall be engaged for development, deployment, operations and maintenance of the IRHES 139 for IRCTC.
4 CRIS • Integration with Back-end systems
(Development, Operation & Maintenance of
Rail Helpline Application i.e. REA) and
providing requisite support for connectivity with
PRS/NTES systems.
• The two Zonal Hubs, if required will be setup in
the NTES/PRS data centres where CRIS
engineers would be deployed round the clock
for maintenance and support of REA/API, bug
fixing with respect to PRS/NTES queries as per
separate agreement between IRCTC and
CRIS.
• CRIS will provide necessary technical support
and assistance for the provisioning of new
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 145 of 191
S.no User Description Roles & Responsibilities
version of the services, introduction of
additional or improved products and services or
any other assistance sort by IRCTC regarding
the smooth running of the MSP’s.
• In cases of timetable corrections, introduction
of new trains, revision of timings etc. involving
one or more PRS locations. Accordingly, CRIS
shall update the IRHES databases along with
the rest of the PRS/NTES databases.
5 Telecom
Service
Providers
The telecom service
providers through which
user calls the IRHES
139
6 Other external
agencies
Other stakeholders
which can provide their
services on 139 such as
booking of meals,
hotels, flights, etc.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 146 of 191
Overview of the current technical solution is presented in this section.
6.15.5 Current Solution Architecture
1. The current solution consists of a two-tier architecture. At tier 1, there are four zonal hubs at Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai and Howrah. These zonal hubs are integrated with respective regional contact
centres, which act as the tier 2 for the solution.
2. Each Zonal hub is integrated with one Regional Contact centre consisting of agent applications.
3. The Voice as well as relevant queries are routed to Regional Contact centre based on skill sets, ANI,
DNIS etc.
4. The current numbers of available agents are ~250 & the numbers of IVR ports are 1300.
Figure 1 Current Solution landscape and functional flow
6.15.5.1 Tier1: Zonal Hubs
1. Tier1 is deployed at four regions viz. North, East, West & South. Zonal Hubs (North / East / West &
South) are co-located at PRS / NTES Data Centres having connectivity to RCC (Tier2) over WAN and
are also connected to co-located backend PRS/NTES Database over LAN.
2. The Components at Zonal Hubs are as follows:
a. IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System)
b. IP PBX (Private Branch Exchange)
c. ACD (Automatic Call Distributor)
d. CTI (Computer Telephony Interface)
e. Voice Logger
f. Database
g. Router
h. LAN & Security Subsystem
i. REA (Rail Enquiry Application) Server
j. Management Tools
k. Reporting System
3. Each Zonal Hub is having following servers:
a. Database servers in cluster (to be interfaced with PRS & NTES to fetch information)
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 147 of 191
b. ACD servers for skill-based call routing
c. Application severs cluster (to handle developed application on the CRM)
d. Antivirus server
e. Call Logger server to handle the enough storage as per requirement
f. Remote monitoring server to be interfaced with central monitoring server
g. SAN storage as per requirement along with SAN switch
h. Along with layer 3 redundant switches
i. Router to send data and transfer voice calls to the agents at RCC
j. Firewall
k. IPS
6.15.5.2 Tier 2: Regional Contact centre (RCC)
1. The RCC is connected to respective Zonal Hub over Private Lease Lines using Routers. Each
RCC is having LAN infrastructure for connecting IP Phones on which Human Agents login. These
IP Phones are registered to IP PBX located at Zonal Hub
2. The Components at Zonal Hubs are as follows:
a. Router to interface with the Zonal HUB to fetch data & transfer voice calls
b. IP phones
c. Desktops for data interface for screen pops & data entry as per transactions
d. Cluster of layers 2 POE switches to interface with IP phones and the agent’s desktops.
3. At present, the Contact centre is located at Noida and serves all 12 regional languages along with
English. Each Zonal hub is integrated with Noida Contact centre which hosts agent applications.
4. The Central Monitoring system is in Delhi, which is integrated with Remote monitoring systems at
all Zonal Hubs.
6.15.5.3 Applications Landscape and Security
In the current scenario, following applications are used at139:
1. IP Private Branch Exchange (IP PBX): Nortel Communication Server 1000M – Multi Group
2. Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) System: Nortel Contact Centre 6.0
3. Computer Telephony Integration (CTI): Nortel CCT Application for Screen POPUP
4. IVRS: Nortel Self Service (Media Processing Server – MPS)
5. Voice logging solution: Nortel Contact Recording & Quality Monitoring
6. Security subsystem comprising of FortiGate Firewalls are in place to make sure that WAN traffic
entering the Zonal Hub does not have any threat of viruses or any other attacks like DDoS.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 148 of 191
6.15.5.4 Current IT & Network Infrastructure
Below are the details of the current IT and Network Infrastructure:
6.15.5.4.1 List of IT Infrastructure at Zonal Hub and RCC
List of IT Infrastructure at Zonal hubs
S. N Servers Count in
North Zone
Count in West
Zone
Count in
East Zone
Count in
South Zone
1 REA Application Server 2 2 2 2
2 REA Database Server 2 2 2 2
3 SAN for Database Storage 1 1 1 1
4 CCMS Active 1 1 1 1
5 CCMS Standby 1 1 1 1
6 CCMS Replication 1 1 1 1
7 CCMA 1 1 1 1
8 NCC 1 1 1 1
9 CCT 2 2 2 2
10 CCMM 1 1 - -
11 LM/SU 1 1 1 1
12 Domain Controller / Anti-virus 1 1 1 1
13 Admin Server (OTM) 1 1 1 1
14 NMS 2 - - -
15 Logger Server 1 1 1 1
16 Check Point Server 1 1 1 1
17 CRM Server 1 1 1 1
18 CRM Middleware Server 2 2 2 2
19 CRM Database Server 2 2 2 2
6.15.5.4.2 Network Layout diagram
Network layout diagram for Zonal Hub and RCC are as indicated below:
1. The Zonal Hubs are connected to RCC over WAN using MPLS
2. LAN is connected to various Zonal Hub components (viz. IPPBX, ACD, IVRS, CTI, DB server, etc)
3. The LAN is also connected to the existing infrastructure of PRS / NTES Database.
List of IT Infrastructure at RCC
S. N Servers North South East West
1 Domain Controller ADC 1 1 1 1
2 Logger Server 1 1 1 1
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline and Enquiry System -139
Page 149 of 191
Figure 2 Network Layout of Zonal Hub Figure 3 Network Layout of RCC
PSTN
Server1
Database
RouterFIrewall
CRIS Network ZCC Kolkata ZCC Mumbai
PBX
Switch
Server2
Server
Router
ZCC
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 150 of 191
6.15.5.5 Integration with CRIS
139 gets all its data of enquiry and helpline from different systems of Indian Railways. 139
solution has critical integration with following systems:
1. Passenger Reservation System (PRS) Software (CONCERT):CONCERT (Country –
Wise Network for computerized enhanced Reservation and Ticketing), a fully automated
passenger reservation system (PRS) is a complex on-line distributed transaction application
based on 3 tier client-server architecture interconnects the four standalone regional
computing systems (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata) into a National PRS grid to allow
passengers from anywhere, to do a booking, for a journey, in any train, in any class, from
anywhere, to anywhere. Following are some of the enquiry data provided to 139 from PRS:
a. PNR Enquiry b. Availability Enquiry c. Fare enquiry
2. National Train Enquiry System (NTES): National Train Enquiry System is a reliable
centralized information system, which provides up-to-date and accurate information to the
passengers regarding: -
a. Arrival / departure of passenger trains. b. Platform of passenger trains
This information is made available to the user through Display Boards, Interactive voice
Response System, Public Announcement System, Face to Face Enquiry, CCTV and on
internet. The above information is collected from stations, control offices and other
database administrators. It has servers located in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, & Kolkata,
which are networked. Following are some of the enquiry data provided to 139 from
NTES:
a. Train expected or actual Arrival or departure at a station, given train number and the station code.
b. List of Trains arriving and departing within a time frame at a station. c. Station code /name enquiry d. Trains between a given pair of station, Schedule e. List of trains, train type-wise (Special / Rajdhani / Shatabdi trains)
3. Rail Madad (COMS2): Following are some of the helpline data shared between 139 and
COMS2:
a. Catering Complaint b. General Complaint
4. Accident Helpline (SIMS): Following are some of the helpline data shared between 139
and SIMS
a. 139 system is integrated with SIMS to fetch the Train Accident related information
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 151 of 191
6.16 General Requirements
The IRHES should support following features:
1. Managed Service Partner (referred to as MSP) shall setup/Build, Operate and Maintain
Integrated Railway Helpline & Enquiry System (IRHES)- 139 24x7 consisting of IVRS, SMS,
Mobile App and Regional Contact centres on behalf of Indian Railways (IRCTC).
2. The entire infrastructure required for the establishment and management of Contact Centres
(including human agents) and its connectivity from IVRS and all hardware, software & enabling
system for IRHES shall be arranged by the MSP’s. All the admin facility shall be borne by MSP.
Arrangement of Space and all the expenditure will be done by the MSP. Connectivity with
PRS/NTES shall also be provided by MSP.
3. The MSP shall provide the staff (i.e. agents & supervisors etc.) to handle queries of
customer/public. However, the training of agents and supervisors shall be managed by the
MSP in coordination with IRCTC.
4. The MSP shall provide technical support resource persons in every shift at each of the 139
locations and Contact centres and a 24 x 7 support for the operation/ maintenance of the
IRHES system.
5. Railways / IRCTC reserve the right to extend the scope of the work with respect to additional
services/type of enquiries etc.
6. Services provided through IRHES-139 shall include Medical Assistance, Railway Enquiry,
Catering Complaints, Complaints related to Railway Services, Vigilance, Accident Related
Assistance, Complaint Status Enquiry Services, Railway Helpline services and other Value-
added Services.
7. The MSP shall establish a Central Monitoring Centre at Railway / IRCTC premises (location for
this will be specified by IRCTC) and Regional Monitoring Centres at the Zonal Hubs near
PRS/NTES data enters. It should be possible to monitor the performance parameters of all
IVRS & CCs resources and seamlessly manage all the sites of CCs.
8. The MSP shall specify its project implementation plan along with full details of the system,
equipment, capacity, and scalability. The project plan should clearly specify how requirements
given in various clauses of this tender document are proposed to be met.
9. The capacity of each contact centre should be designed to handle peak load of enquiries and
each zone and should be able to work in fail safe mode. The MSP shall be responsible for
future enhancement and up-gradations during project period in close coordination with IRCTC
and CRIS.
10. MSP shall develop, implement and maintain the requisite IVRS, SMS and Agent Application
and integrate them with the Rail Madad portal and Rail Enquiry Application (REA) managed by
CRIS and other VAS applications in close coordination with IRCTC.
11. MSP will make all arrangements for termination of telecom lines of all other Telecom Service
Providers at all the contact centres. These services shall be accessible on IRHES. MSP shall
have to carry these services on its network
12. The Contact centre Executive (CCE) shall interact with customers in 13 different languages i.e.
Hindi, English, Punjabi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada,
Malayalam & Urdu.
13. The IRHES shall support Call Processing and Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) and automatic
call routing based on pre-configured call flow, Agent’s skill, Agent’s availability etc.
14. The IRHES shall support Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), SMS; which will be the
front- end of all incoming queries and process them in accordance with a pre-configured call-
flow. The IVRS shall be interfaced with the PRS and NTES systems at the backend to provide
real-time information. The IVRS shall also be interfaced with, to enable natural language-based
feeding and should support Speech to Text feature.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 152 of 191
15. The IRHES shall support Queuing of calls in the event of incoming calls exceeding the call
handling capacity of the agents and shall update the customer with the current queue status at
regular intervals.
16. It shall be possible to configure advertisements during the waiting period. The content and
duration for advertisements shall be decided by IRCTC.
17. The Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) functionality shall support relevant screen pop-ups
on the agent’s desktop based on ANI (Automatic number identification), DNIS (Dialled number
identification sequence) etc.
18. The IRHES shall support application-oriented call routing. For instance,
a. The caller’s station can be known by using ANI to route the call to a specific agent/agent
group along with relevant pop-ups like status of Trains departing/arriving from/at that
station.
b. The inputs given to IVRS by the caller shall be utilized to route the call to an agent/agent
group.
19. Prioritization of calls should be possible based on call history for calls, which have already been
processed on the IVRS and are required to be forwarded to an agent. For instance, it should be
possible to prioritize calls based on class of travel, train type etc.
20. In case the information is not available with CRIS or IRCTC during the time the customer has
demanded the information, it is the responsibility of the bidder to ensure that, once the
information has been made available, then it is sent to the customer. Please note that this is
applicable for those data points that are not available.
21. The bidder has to ensure that any information asked for by the customer is sent in the correct
template.
22. The agent application shall be customized as per requirements of the Rail Helpline system with
an interface to fetch both the static and dynamic information available in the PRS/NTES
systems, as well as the local database in the Zonal Hub catering to information not available in
the PRS/NTES systems such as Amenities at Railway stations, concession rules, refund rules
etc.
23. The agent application shall be GUI based and shall pop-up along with the information relevant
to the call (call originating station discovered through CLID i.e. Caller Identification), state of the
call (the call flow history) when call comes to the agent.
24. Agent should be able to control the telephony features from the agent application like login,
logout, away, pick-up, Conference, and transfer to another agent or to supervisor. Screen pop -
ups should be multi coloured. Queries or call priorities should be recognized by the colour of
the pop up.
25. Entire login, logout, away, total call handled, data of the agent should be captured and
produced as reports in the dashboard.
26. The agent application shall support call recording for monitoring the performance of agents.
The contact centres shall have call recording servers, which shall record all calls serviced by
agents and store on-line for a period of about two months with archival facility for about four
months. The Central Monitoring Cell should also be enabled to monitor the individual
conversations of any agent in any contact centre, if so desired.
27. MSP shall provide a Supervisor application which shall enable the supervisors to monitor and
manage the functioning of the various contact centre resources such as Agents, call routing,
call flow, message/announcements etc. The supervisory application shall include features of
workforce management like create/modify’ agent profiles, agent optimization etc.
28. Supervisory application shall have an interface to dynamically re-configure Agent group /Splits
and effect reactive changes in call flow in case of special events.
29. The MSP shall provide information dashboards for the IRCTC/Railways managerial staff to
monitor key performance indicators and real time information gathered for SLA metrics and
reporting requirements.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 153 of 191
30. MSP dashboard shall provide the feature to download key performance indicators related
reports in both excel and pdf format to take the proper printout.
31. The MSP shall provide the requisite Network Security infrastructure comprising of the Firewalls,
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), Anti-Virus etc. at all the Zonal Hubs.
32. The MSP shall ensure that the 139 APIs are not publicly accessible in any case and should be
properly secured for any misuse but shall be made available to IRCTC for its internal
application like e-catering, IRCTC Air, Tourism, Retiring Room, Chatbot etc.
33. In case of 139 services are provided through cloud then MSP shall ensure that data should be
secured/saved in line with Meity guidelines.
34. The MSP shall provide the requisite Hardware & Software, which shall enable report generation
on performance of various components of the entire infrastructure. Reports should also be
available in the dashboard.
35. The dashboard shall support standard as well as customized reports on the performance of
various contact centre components including performance of agents, IVRS and performance
statistic such as average speed of answer, average queuing time, peak busy hour calls etc.
The dashboard shall also generate reports on the quantum and type of calls serviced during
different time periods. The dashboard shall support exception reports & notification for
individual agent & agent groups. The system shall be sized to store data online for at least one
years.
36. Bidder shall be responsible for integration of IRHES with relevant Indian Railways systems
which includes PRS, NTES etc. Please note that all cost incurred for development and
deployment along with associated infrastructurelike API manager, gateway, firewall etc. for
APIs shall be borne by the bidder.
37. MSP is not permitted to use or source out the available information obtained through
Railway’s network for any purpose other than specified services of giving information to
Railways’ customers as directed from time to time or get into any arrangement with any party
whatsoever to provide similar or related services using Railway information/statistics or
customer/service data generated from IRHES network.
38. The MSP shall implement the whole IRHES including RCCs with adequate provision for
scalability. The scalability shall be both with respect to equipment/resources as well as the
regional contact centres.
39. The MSP shall upgrade the software, hardware, resources and manpower whenever the
performance levels fall below the defined SLA parameters.
40. The IRHES should be implemented using a technology, which allows a Multi-site, Multi-channel
Networked Contact centre configuration. That is, it should be possible to dynamically
divert/reroute calls from a given Zonal Hub to another Zonal Hub or between Regional Contact
centres within a region for balancing the load or as a disaster Recovery measure. This feature
will enable efficiently manage instances of sudden increase in call traffic in the event of
accidents, natural calamities etc.
41. System should have facility to transfer voice-recording of caller in RailMadad.
42. Grievances in private trains run by IRCTC or new private players must be registered in
RailMadad by call centre agents.
43. Bidder should make sure that Option 1 of IVRS i.e. emergency situations like security, medical,
disaster safety, accidents etc. be advertisement free.
44. The investment in physical infrastructure should provide the facility of work-from-home to call-
centre agents. This is necessary to provide uninterrupted 139 services to customers in the
event of any emergency, pandemic etc.Facility to work for home/remotely of the agents may be
made available by the service provider. It is clarified that in such situation all the required
infrastructure shall be provided by the CCSP to its agents and the entire solution must be
accessible at the remote site the agent is working. Service levels along with all terms and
conditions provided in this RFP shall be applicable. All the agents must log in using VDI facility
so that the data is properly secured and nullifies any data breach.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 154 of 191
45. Bidder should provide an interactive live dashboard to the IRCTC for tracking and monitoring of
calls, call centre executive, cloud transactions, passenger data, SLA details and other KPIs on
the real time basis. The dashboard should be user friendly with cutting edge user interface and
downloadable MIS.
46. During the operations of the project, bidder should inform and take prior permission of work
from home for the call centre executive from IRCTC. Bidder should clearly specify and
document the percentage of the CCE working from home and office. This should be showcased
in the live dashboard as the part of monitoring and management.
S.No. Item Details
1 No. of Agents
Bidder shall estimate the number of Agents based on the Historical Call Volume, SLA and Scope of Work mentioned in the RFP.
2 Languages supported
13 Languages. Hindi, English, Punjabi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Oriya, Bengali, Assamese and Urdu.
3 Operations As per service window mentioned and consistent with the service level mentioned in Schedule V
4 Location Facility shall be in two places:
a) North (Delhi NCR-Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad, or Gurgaon)
b) South (Chennai, Hyderabad or Bangalore)
5 Service Window
24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 155 of 191
Responsibility of the Bidder:
S. No. Area Bidder
1 Help Desk Centre Infrastructure at TWO locations:
• Office space for Help Desk Centre operations • Headsets • Telephone Instruments • Desktop • Other applicable infrastructure components
Y
2 CRM Application Y
3 IVRS Y
4 ACD Y
5 Call barging and recording software Y
6 PRI/SIP Lines Y
7 Toll free number Y
8 Network Connectivity MPLS lines to CRIS Data Centre and Disaster Recovery Centre
Y
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 156 of 191
Detailed Requirements
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 157 of 191
6.17 Detailed Requirements
6.17.1 Business Services
Integrated Railway Helpline and Enquiry System (IRHES) provides customer care services via
call and SMS. System features a call distribution system, customized CRM, reporting and SLA
monitoring tools.
Functional description of services is as follows:
6.17.1.1 Call Based Services
1. System should provide multitude of call-based services including Medical Assistance,
Railway Enquiry, Catering Complaints, Complaints related to Railway Services, Vigilance,
Accident Related Assistance, Complaint Status Enquiry Services, Railway Helpline services
and other Value-added Services.
2. 139 customer service representatives should provide information related to Tatkal Seat
Availability, Cancellation & Refund Rule, Current Position of Trains, Coach & Platform
Information etc.
3. Details of services to be provided on Voice 139 (Incoming Calls) are as follows:
i. Security Helpline & Medical Assistance: Security & Medical Assistance Service helps the
passengers to register the grievance & seek the help related to RPF helpline & Medical
related emergency.
ii. Railway Enquiry:
a. PNR Enquiry: User can check the status of his Booking using PNR number.
b. Arrival/ Departure: This option gives information about train Arrival and Departure
timing on selected station, user can get the information using train number & STD
code of the station.
c. Seat Availability: User can check the berth/ seat availability through this IVR option
using train number, date of journey and class of travel.
d. Fare Enquiry: User can check the Fare of reserved class through this IVR option
using train number, date of journey and class of travel.
e. Dial-A-Ticket: This option is reserved for ticket booking service with agent assistance
by using credit or debit card.
f. System Ticket Cancellation: User can cancel their reserved ticket booked through
Railway Reservation counters.
g. Wakeup/ Destination Alarm: User can set an alarm in the form of voice call for the
journey, he/ she will get this alarm 30 minutes before the actual arrival of train at
destination station.
h. Wheelchair Booking: 139 customer service representative books the wheelchair for
station premises.
i. Dial-A-Meal: User can give meal booking request through this IVR option by using
PNR number.
iii. (Catering Complaint: Passengers, who are having any catering service-related issue, can
register their grievance through this option.
iv. General Complaint: Through General Complaint Option, passenger can register their
grievance related to various amenities/ services provided by Railway i.e. Cleanliness, Bed
Roll, Electrical Equipment, Water Related Problems, Luggage & Parcel Related
grievance, Refund Related Grievance, Staff Misbehaviour etc.
v. Vigilance Helpline: Vigilance Helpline Service enables an option for passengers to
register their grievance related to Bribery & Corruption.
vi. Accident Related Helpline: Passenger can get the relevant details regarding the Train
Accidents.
vii. Complaint Status: Passenger can check the status of their complaint through this option.
viii. To enable the services, bidder to provide technical support resources in every shift at
each of the 139 locations and a 24 x 7 support for the operation/ maintenance of the
system.
ix. Bidder to ensure no BOT/computer-based calls are accepted by the IRHES-139
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 158 of 191
Figure below summarizes the functional flow of the call services:
6.17.1.2 SMS 139 based services
User can get the Information about train/ journey planning/ Seat Availability/ Current train
position and many more by sending SMS to 139 using simple keywords. Below mentioned
services are available on SMS 139:
a. PNR Enquiry: This gives the status of the ticket booking.
b. Current Position of Train: User can get the current position of train through this option.
c. Arrival/ Departure of Train: Through this option user can check the arrival/ departure time on
selected station.
d. Seat Availability (General/Tatkal/Ladies Quota): This option provides available seat/ berth
information in selected train.
e. Fare Enquiry: User can get Fare Information by using this option.
f. Train Number/Name Enquiry: User can get Train name by sending train number and can get
train number by sending train name using this service.
g. Train Timetable: This option provides Departure Time from Source Station, Arrival Time at
Destination Station, Days of Running and Available classes in selected train.
h. Platform Enquiry: This service provides schedule platform information for specific train on
specific station.
i. Trains Between Stations: This service provides a list of trains which are running between
selected stations along with the departure timing.
j. Train Route Information: Through this service user can get all the station names on which
that train is halting.
k. Train Schedule Information: User can get the schedule timings of all the en-route stations.
l. Next Train Information: This service gives the list of trains which are about to depart from
selected station in next 3 hours for a specific destination.
m. Station Code Information: User can get the Station code of any station through this service.
n. Destination Alert: User can register their alarm request using this option.
o. Meal Booking: Meal booking request can be registered through this service.
p. IRCTC User Registration & Activation: User can create/ activate IRCTC user id through this
option.
q. IRCTC Lounge Information: User can get the contact details of lounge helpline
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 159 of 191
r. System Ticket Cancellation: User can cancel their reserved ticket booked through this option
using OTP validation.
s. Coach Mitra: User can register the grievance related to Train’s coach cleanliness.
t. Rail Madad: User can register any grievance related to services provided by Indian
Railways.
6.17.1.3 Rail Enquiry Application
a. The Rail Enquiry Application (REA) has passenger reservation system (PRS) static
database, which is replicated from the associated online PRS system once a day. Static
queries like trains between important stations, fare enquiry etc. are serviced using this local
database.
b. It enables answering of Dynamic queries i.e. Availability and PNR Status and any other
dynamic query by accessing the PRS data centres in real time.
c. NTES Static as well as dynamic database is replicated in the REA and all the queries
related to the train departure/arrival are serviced using this database.
d. REA provides a Web Services interface for integration with the IVRS and Agent application.
e. The REA fetches PNR & Availability information from the online PRS systems using a
Middleware component i.e. Reliable Transaction Router (RTR).
6.17.1.4 Value Added Services (VAS)
Monetization is allowed through the following channels on IVRS and SMS
a. Taxi Bookings/Car Rentals (Preference given to IRCTC channel partners).
b. Hotel Booking (Preference given to IRCTC Hotels).
c. Booking of Tourism Products (Preference given to IRCTC Tourism Products).
d. Railway Ticket bookings are allowed through IVRS/SMS using secured payment
mechanism. Payment can also be collected through web page.
e. SMS advertisement
Revenue from Advertisements on Waiting Period: It includes Jingle, slogans, signature
tunes, theme music etc. may be played during the call waiting periods. If the commercial
advertisements are brought by MSP, then IRCTC share 80% of revenue. However, if
the commercial advertisements are brought by IRCTC gets 100% of the revenue and
MSP has to provide provision for same on IRHES. MSP should ensure that the
advertisements do not adversely affect the call waiting times or offend the callers on any
account.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 160 of 191
Advertisement Terms & Conditions:
Bidder shall not promote discrimination based on gender, religion, race, nationality, disability
or sexual orientation. Shall not promote content that contain or promote pornography,
nudity, gambling, casino, dating, black magic, astrology, get rich quick, politics, religion,
sexual & reproductive health, references to sex & sexuality, esoteric, and any other
objectionable goods or services.
Bidder should adhere to the guidelines on general code of conduct and ethics for advertising
issued by Ministry of information & broadcasting from time to time.
Bidder should adhere to the guidelines issued by TRAI from time to time.
IRCTC/ Railway products Jingle will be played free of cost as and when required.
Revenue through Railway Reservation Service: MSP can generate revenue through Railway
Reservation by charging IRCTC defined agent charges from the customer, who is booking
ticket on 139 through IVRS/SMS only. Revenue from Value Added Services: Entire
revenues from Value Added Services, whatever is generated can be retained by MSP.
6.17.2 Infrastructure & Technology
This includes the entire infrastructure required for the establishment and management of
Regional Contact centres (including human agents) and its connectivity from IVRS and all
hardware, software & enabling system for IRHES (including RCCs), connectivity with
PRS/NTES LANs, integration of MPLS lines to CRIS Data Centre and Disaster Recovery
Centre.
Some of the key components are as follows:
6.17.2.1 Automatic Call Distributor (ACD): It should be pre-integrated with the IVR functions
such as:
I. Handling of high call volumes
II. configurable system for adding/removing users, assigning users to different queues
III. Relaying of the information messages (jingles) to voice callers waiting in queues or on hold
IV. Skill based routing: Standard features like Call Transfer, Conference, Barge in, Dialled
Number Identification Sequence (DNIS), Automatic Number Identification (ANI), Caller Line
Identification (CLI), etc.
V. Announce the queue waiting time for the caller before getting attended by an Agent
VI. Provide the capability of combining data with the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menu
system that can intelligently route calls requesting further assistance to a smart Automatic
Call Distributor (ACD)
VII. Support relaying of the information messages (jingles) to voice callers waiting in queues or
on hold
6.17.2.2 Computer Telephone Integration (CTI)
I. Should be able to integrate with CRM
II. It shall be interfaced with the Core system of PRS/NTES to send/receive data which needs
to be populated
III. The CTI must be capable of activating the fast dialling feature of the ACD
IV. Call events should be handled from the system such as hold, conference, transfer etc.
6.17.2.3 CRM Application
I. Bidder will develop CRM application which is used for ticket logging and tracking and add
essential enhancements to the application as and when suggested by IRCTC
II. CRM shall maintain data regarding train enquiry (as provided by IRCTC).
III. CRM should also provide functionality to record complaints / grievances / feedback /
responses. All other standard/ application software required to run the IRHES Centre and
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 161 of 191
meet SLAs shall be developed or provided by the SI.
IV. All reports, feedback data should be stored for a period of 2 years and should be made
accessible online to department officials securely on request.
V. In addition to above, CRM should have capability from day one to have analytics
functionalities like but not limited to:
a. View data in charts, graphs or raw data grids
b. Drill down into report data for more detail
c. Create, save and schedule custom reports
d. Track real-time metrics with dashboards
e. Export raw contact centre analytics data for further refinement
VI. To build and deliver services for the envisaged call centre
VII. Must provide for automated call capture. The solution must provide for all features in an
automated way with the agent need not do anything manually except for answering calls
and taking notes.
VIII. Automated call distribution (ACD) (including quality monitoring tool) with intelligent
routing features to various agents once the caller requests to direct the call to agents on
IVRS. It is clarified that call routing to various agents must be based on algorithms and
not on manual interventions. It must be able to distribute calls to all the agents in an
equitable way and not just to one or two.
IX. Access to quality monitoring tool (in ACD) to be provided to IRCTC officials
X. Must provide access to application interface to various agents
XI. It should enable geo-location facility which automatically identifies the caller by location.
XII. Call data management- the solution must have the capability to capture every detail
related to a call like a caller’s information and other call data from each incoming or
outgoing call will be and to store the same in the database system
XIII. Agents must be able to schedule automated call
XIV. Agents must have access to information and knowledge in real-time to deliver the correct
information to callers during calls. The solution must have case management
capabilities.
XV. Calls should only be enabled on desktops/laptops only and not on mobile phones of the
agents
XVI. The solution must scale at ease (as and when requested)
XVII. The solution must provide for 100% call recording
XVIII. The selected agency must store all call related data (including call recordings) and shall
provide uninterrupted support and access to record and information to IRCTC.
XIX. IRCTC shall have full access rights to the call records and pull them as and when
needed.
XX. The CCSP will be able to access the call records only after seeking approval of IRCTC.
No data will be used or taken out for any purpose which is not directly or indirectly
connected with IRCTC call centre operations.
XXI. The call recordings retention period (from the date of call) shall be minimum 3 months.
Post that CCSP shall either transfer all such data to IRCTC (at no extra cost to IRCTC)
or shall purge the data after approval of IRCTC.
6.17.2.4 Data Storage and Archival: The operational data such as Call, Chat, etc. being
generated during the operational period shall be stored and archived as per the standard
practices
6.17.2.5 Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS):
The Call Centre Service Provider shall also provision an Intelligent IVRS for the call centre
which meets the below requirements
I. IVRS must have features of ‘key press input’ and ‘speech to text’
II. IVRS must provide multi-lingual language selection option to the caller and all the pursuant
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 162 of 191
information as provided in the IVRS shall be in the language selected by the caller.
III. IRCTC envisages the use of IVRS system to not just act as merely a filter options but also
to act as conversational, informative and transactional based system for the callers. The
objective of IVRS is to enable human like interactions of the system with the caller to solve
most of their queries
IV. The Call Centre Service Provider shall devise such IVRS which provides options to callers
and shall itself solve certain problems/queries of the callers without being re-directing the
call to the agents. The overall objective is to make an intelligent IVRS system which
attends to queries of the callers and make outbound calls to the various stakeholders.
V. The IVRS shall run on 24 x 7 x 365 basis i.e. round the clock and round the year.
VI. Music on hold and ability to upload specific recordings/ advertisements
VII. Call Centre Service Provider shall augment IVRS design workflows from time-to-time to
improve caller’s experience. The IVRS may provide the name of the agent to the caller to
whom the call is routed. The names need not to be the real names.
VIII. The solution must also provide for missed call facility and should have the capability to
obtain the appropriate phone number to be contacted, and the appropriate time within 24
hours for the call back.
IX. IVRS should be able to record caller’s feedback on a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being the
highest) signifying level of satisfaction of the caller and the same shall be mandatory at the
end of each call. Some standardized calls which convey a standard message should be
enabled through automated IVRS calls.
X. Auto-recognition of the caller on IVRS should be enabled through some key identifiers like
registered contact number
XI. IVR system should provide a call-back interface. The following event messages in direct or
indirect form should be sent through the call-back interface at runtime as the event
happened:
a. Answered - the call was successfully originated and the called party answered the
call.
b. No Answer - the originated call was unsuccessful because the called party did not
answer the call.
c. Busy - the originated call was unsuccessful because the called party was busy.
d. Failure - the call could not be originated due to a system error.
e. Completed - when the call is completed.
XII. IVR system should make available for a client application a Call Data Record (CDR) for
the completed call. DR should include at least the following data points:
a. Call unique identifier
b. Call Destination extension/number
c. Start of call (date/time)
d. Answer of call (date/time)
e. End of call (date/time)
f. Call duration in seconds (optional)
g. What happened to the call: ANSWERED, NO ANSWER, BUSY, FAILED
h. IVR Speech to Text should support all languages required for the specific
implementation
Natural Language Processor (NLP)/ Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
(AI/ML):This technology allows computer to interact with human users by processing the
voice inputs received by user and making informed decisions based on them.The
indicative list of functionalities achieved through NLP/AI/ML is as follows:
1. Responding to all the passenger queries on IRHES. If the passenger is not satisfied, NLP
solution should have the capability to forward the query to help desk official and update the
status of query to customer after its resolution.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 163 of 191
2. Leveraging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance contextual
understanding, generative responses and learning abilities while doing end to end
conversation with passengers.
3. Leveraging AI/ ML algorithms to identify and generate alerts for any anomalies in the data,
absence of data, any format change, etc. For example, if the passenger wants to know the
train status through SMS, the SMS to the passenger should have the relevant information
and in case any other information is shared with the user, the system should generate the
alert. Such kind of alert should be taken up with IRCTC within 2 hours of such glitch.
4. Providing an analytical tool which can analyse the passenger data created during
conversations based on various parameters like sentimental analysis, etc.
5. Interacting with the user and responding to various level queries raised in English.
6. Understanding & executing compound query, at the same time ability to identify different
intents and act upon both simultaneously.
7. Not storing any of the information entered by user anywhere locally on device and it should
be stored in encrypted format on servers only.
Futuristic Provisions for monetization and enhancements: The bidder shall have the
capability and should have enough provisions in the system for optimization and
monetization of the application/data. For example, any data monetization or any valuable
insights achieved through the existing data, etc.
6.17.2.6 Cloud Infrastructure
Cloud service requirements:
1. CSP should be a registered firm or a company in India and the proposed Data Centres
(DC & DR) should have jurisdiction in India
2. The CSP should not have been Debarred and / or blacklisted by any organizations of
Govt. of India/ Central PSU/ GoMP entities as on bid submission date
3. The CSP environment/Cloud should conform to at least Tier III standard (preferably
certified under TIA 942 or Uptime Institute certifications by a 3rd party) and implement tool-
based processes based on ITIL standards
4. Proposed Cloud Service Provider (CSP) should be STQC audited and MeiTY empanelled
and offer all services from India only as per guidelines of MeiTY
5. The Primary and DR Data Centre (Cloud) shall be physically located in India.
6. The proposed data centre must conform to Tier III or above guidelines for better availability
of cloud services
7. Data Centre should be either Seismic Zone-II or Seismic Zone-III only
8. The CSP should provide financially backed SLAs for all the services offered and these
SLAs should be declared in public portal of CSP.
9. The CSP should provide native marketplace with certified applications which can be
deployed on cloud. The CSP should also provide capability for administrators to create
private marketplace with images from the public marketplace.
10. The CSP should provide all variants of cloud service as per MeiTY guidelines.
a. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS),
b. Platform as a Service (PaaS) c. Software as a Service (SaaS)
11. The CSP should have minimum following experiences.
a. Providing the Public Cloud Services (PaaS, SaaS) in India for last 5 years 12. Should have hosted at least minimum 10 Government / Private Customer reference
a. Should have minimum 05 reference of Government Entity in India for providing (PaaS, SaaS) Services.
13. CSP should have accreditations relevant to security, availability, confidentiality, processing
integrity, and/or privacy Trust Services principles. SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3
14. Data Centres should be compliant at a minimum with the following:
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 164 of 191
a. ISO 9001
b. ISO/IEC 27001
c. ISO/IEC 27017
d. ISO/IEC 27018
e. PCI DSS Level 1 15. The cloud services should provide scalable, redundant, dynamic compute and storage
16. Service shall provide users with the ability to procure and use compute and storage
capabilities remotely over the SSL with two factor authentications.
17. Perform an Image backup of Customer VM Image information or support the ability to take
an existing running instance or a copy of an instance and import / export the instance into
a MeitY approved image format.
18. Configuration and Management of the Virtual Machine shall be enabled via a web browser
over the SSL VPN clients only as against the public internet
19. The bidder shall ensure that VMs receive OS patching, health checking, Systematic Attack
Detection and backup functions.
20. Monitor VM up/down status and resource utilization such as RAM, CPU, Disk, IOPS and
network
21. The purchaser retains ownership of all virtual machines, templates, clones, and
scripts/applications created for the organization’s application
22. The purchaser retains the right to request full copies of these virtual machines at any time.
23. The purchaser retains ownership of loaded business solutions / bespoke software installed
on the VMs
24. Support a secure administration interface - such as SSL/TLS or SSH - for the purchasing
organization’s designated personnel to remotely administer their virtual instance
25. Provide the capability to dynamically allocate virtual machines based on load, with no
service interruption
26. Provide the capability to copy or clone virtual machines for archiving, troubleshooting, and
testing
27. The bidder should provide tools and mechanism to the purchaser or its appointed agency
for defining their backup requirements & policy.
28. The bidder should provide tools and mechanism to the purchaser or its appointed agency
for configuring, scheduling, performing and managing back-ups and restore activities
(when required) of all the data including but not limited to files, folders, images, system
state, databases and enterprise applications in an encrypted manner as per the defined
policy.
29. Transfer data back in-house either on demand or in case of contract or order termination
for any reason
30. Bidder shall not delete any data at the end of the agreement (for a maximum of 90 days
beyond the expiry of the Agreement) without the express approval of the purchaser.
31. Provide capability to perform live migrations (ability to move running VM’s) from one host
to another.
32. Provide support to all Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) including REST API that
bidder develops/provides.
33. Bidder should offer fine-grained access controls including role-based access control, use
of SSL certificates, or authentication with a multi-factor authentication.
34. Cloud service should support auditing with features such as what request was made, the
source IP address from which the request was made, who made the request, when it was
made, and so on.
35. Purchasing organization should be permitted to bring and upload additional properly
licensed non-operating system software for operation in cloud as required for the
Purchasing organization solution for use within the Services by installing it directly on a
VM.
36. RAM or CPU of virtual machine should scale automatically whenever there is spike in load
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 165 of 191
to deliver application availability even during spike in load
37. Provide facility to configure virtual machine of required vCPU, RAM and Disk.
38. Data Storage: Native cloud-based solution can be used if it adheres to the requirements.
These components should be cited with the specifications and customer references.
39. Bidder is responsible for Disaster Recovery Services to ensure continuity of operations in
the event of failure of primary site of the purchasing organization and meet the RPO and
RTO requirements. The CSP should offer dashboard to monitor RPO and RTO of cloud
infrastructure and systems.
40. The bidder should design the solution adhering to RTOs, RPOs and the SLAs. Based on
the requirements, MSP is free to construct a solution mix of MeitY empanelled Public and
Private Cloud setup to meet the requirements of the RFP but should also ensure that
fundamental principal of cloud of scalability, elasticity and agility is maintained.
41. Design and document an efficient disaster recovery solution in line with the RFP
requirements & ensuring best practices on disaster recovery as per RTO = 120 mins and
RPO = 30 mins.
42. The bidder should offer switchover and switchback of individual applications instead of
entire system.
43. Any lag and/or loss in data replication should be reflected in terms of the business
requirements in terms of the defined RTO and RPO impact.
44. Support replication of data between primary and DR cloud environment
45. Allow replication of data between cloud and on-premise sites
46. When the purchaser or bidder (with prior approval of the purchaser) scales down the
infrastructure services, MSP / CSP is responsible for deleting or otherwise securing
purchaser’s content/data prior to VM deletion and in case deleted, shall ensure that the
data cannot be forensically recovered.
47. Any change in CSP post submission of credential of a CSP by Lead Bidder/Bidder may
lead to disqualification and cancellation of the contract
48. Bidder should maintain a MieTY empanelled CSP for the entire duration of the project.
6.17.2.6.1 Cloud operational requirements
1. Manage the network, storage, server and virtualization layers, to include performance of
internal technology refresh cycles applicable to meet the SLAs
2. Provide a secure, dual factor method of remote access which allows the
purchaser’s designated personnel (privileged users) the ability to perform duties on the
hosted infrastructure
3. Upgrade and periodically replace hardware without financial impact to the purchaser. All
the data within it shall be immediately deleted/destroyed and certify the VM and data
destruction to the purchaser as per stipulations and shall ensure that the data cannot be
forensically recovered.
4. Bidder to perform patch management appropriate to the scope of their control including:
5. Alerts on the upcoming patches via email and management portal, and ability to defer or
reject patches before they are applied in the next patch cycle
6. Patch approved VMs on the next available patch management change window
7. Application of automated OS security patches, unless deferred or rejected by purchaser or
designated agency
8. Send regular approval reminders to purchaser or authorized agency designated email
address five (5) days prior to patch cut-off dates
9. Bidder should undertake OS level vulnerability management – all OS images created
within the cloud platform are regularly patched with the latest security updates
10. Provide the artefacts, security policies and procedures demonstrating its compliance with
the Security Assessment and Authorization requirements as described in Security
Requirements in this RFP.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 166 of 191
11. Monitor availability of the servers, CSP -supplied operating system & system software, and
CSP’s network
12. The bidder is fully responsible for tech refreshes, patch management and other operations
of infrastructure with regards to the cloud environment (DC and DR).
13. Investigate outages, perform appropriate corrective action to restore the hardware,
operating system, and related tools
14. Bidder should manage CSP provisioned infrastructure including VMs as per the ITIL or
equivalent industry standards.
15. Comply with technology refresh requirements as mandated by CERT-IN and MeitY
16. Software within the CSP’s scope will never be more than two versions behind unless
deferred or rejected by MeitY / Purchaser / Purchaser’s authorized agency
6.17.2.6.2 Cloud management reporting requirements:
1. Provide service level management reports (as per the service levels agreed in the Service
Level Agreement between the purchaser and the CSP)
2. description of major outages (including description of root-cause and fix) resulting in
greater than 1-hour of unscheduled downtime within a month
3. Helpdesk tickets reports submitted
4. Monthly and quarterly utilization reports (peak and average volumetric details)
5. Bidder should provide a portal for the purchaser (administration role) which should provide
data related to:
a. Utilization reports (with threshold limits defined by the user)
b. SLA reports
c. Cloud service usage
d. Helpdesk and tickets
e. User profile management
6. The bidder should set the baseline threshold limits for cloud infra utilization.
7. In the event of cloud infra utilization breaching the baseline threshold limits, the CSP is
required to notify the purchaser and MSP with adequate justifications for increasing
baseline capacity.
6.17.2.6.3 Scope of work for infrastructure provisioning on cloud for data centre includes
the followings:
1. The CSP should propose Data Centre site which lie in seismic zone different from that of
the proposed Disaster Recovery Centre.
2. MSP to ensure scalability of the DC cloud environment considering the future growth for
next 5 years.
3. Installation and commissioning of Servers as per solution requirement.
4. Installation and provisioning of Storage and backup as per solution requirement.
5. Installation and commissioning of Software (OS/VM/backup software) along with relevant
and requisite patches
6. Installation and commissioning of requisite Clusters for High Availability.
7. Installation and commissioning of Network and Security equipment for providing secured
network environment.
8. Liaison with Network Bandwidth Service Provider for Link provisioning and commissioning.
6.17.2.6.4 Scope of work for infrastructure provisioning on cloud for disaster recovery
includes the followings:
1. The CSP should propose Disaster Recovery Data centre site which lie in seismic zone
different from that of the proposed data centre.
2. For continuous adoption of rapidly evolving technology the entire system would be built to
be open (standards, open API, plug-n-play capabilities), components coupled loosely to
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 167 of 191
allow changes in sub-system level without affecting other parts, architected to work
completely within a heterogeneous compute, storage, and multi-vendor environment.
3. The solution would be done keeping in mind the scalability of the system. Every
component of System needs to scale horizontally to very large volume of data
4. The Disaster Recovery Site should host all the critical production Landscape.
6.17.2.6.5 Scope of work for network infrastructure provisioning between cloud and CRIS
data centre and disaster recovery centre includes the followings:
1. MSP to ensure Installation and commissioning of the MPLS Network environment between
IRHES cloud and CRIS data centre and disaster recovery centre
2. Installation and commissioning of Network and Security equipment for providing secured
network environment.
3. Integration with CRIS data centre and disaster recovery centre for required applications as
mentioned in General requirement section of scope of work
4. MPLS Connectivity should allow Layer 3 connectivity and allow BGP protocol for dynamic
routing.
6.17.2.6.6 Change in CSP
At any point of time during the duration of the project, it might be decided to migrate to an
on premise private cloud environment or to any other cloud service provider (Hereafter
refer to as the new environment) depending upon the situations that might be observed.
Accordingly, it would be the responsibility of the MSP to make sure all the provisioned
resources in the Cloud Service provider (including the data) is migrated back to the new
environment. The decision to move back to the new environment would rest upon IRCTC.
The following point should be noted in this aspect:
1. The MSP would need to check and re-size the application and infrastructure to the new
environment including all the licenses
2. Data migration would be the responsibility of the MSP. MSP should ensure that all
requisite interfaces to existing systems are available.
3. Operating process for working in the new environment would have to be defined by the
MSP.
4. The MSP should make sure that adequate support is available from CSP for the purpose
of migration to new environment. For the same reason, the MSP should choose a model of
deployment on Cloud Service Provider taking the consideration that the model should be
easily portable to the new environment.
5. The MSP should design the migration strategy keeping in mind that there should not be
any down time during the transition.
6.17.2.7 IT Security Requirements
The overall objective of the bidder shall be to provide IRCTC a cyber-security framework to
defend against cyber threats and risk. The bidder shall share threat, vulnerability and
incident information in a timely manner. As part of this project, the Call Centre Service
Provider is required to address basic security hygiene in its infrastructure to ensure
confidentiality, integrity and availability of IRCTC related data processed by the Call Centre
and other confidential information of IRCTC. Selected service provider
shallberesponsibletoprotecttheprivacy,confidentiality,andsecurityoftheIRCTCsdata.Selected
bidders must comply with international standards for data protection including ISO 27001,
andapplicableregulationsincludingITActandAmendments,AadhaarAct(asapplicable)andRegu
lations,andproposed data privacy act and regulations including Data Protection Act and
other applicable laws and regulations, which IRCTC may want the Selected bidders to
comply with. Selected bidders shall ensure that these security and privacy requirements are
been adequately implemented across the setup. The effectiveness shall be evaluated on a
regular basis to ensure the continuity of security and privacy requirements. The Selected
service provider shall ensure the security and privacy requirements including, but not limited
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 168 of 191
to the following:
1. Ensure the compliance to security requirements as detailed above and also to
requirements and guidelines published by IRCTC from time to time. Selected service
provider shall also ensure the compliance to upcoming security and privacy requirements
as and when these become applicable.
2. Setup an assurance process to periodically review the compliance to security and privacy
requirements.SelectedbiddermustensurethatcompletedataofIRCTCshallresidewithinIndiaonl
yensuringdatalocalization.
3. Ensurethatduringthedevelopmentoftheproducthasbeenperformedusingsecuringcodingpractic
esandthroughdevelopmentmethodologyas per OWASP guidelines
4. Selected bidders shall be responsible for maintenance of all soft ware managed with latest
updates, specifically related to security vulnerabilities.
5. Host the systems and devices processing the data within the data centres located in India.
6. Ensure policies & procedures for secure disposition of electronic data on which the data
resides (e.g., wiping hard drive, or other method of destruction)
7. Ensure maintenance of system and application audit logs in line with applicable regulations
including IT Act and Amendments, Aadhaar Act (as applicable), and any other Regulations
made applicable from time to time as well as retention policy of IRCTC
8. Ensure in case of any incident/breach notification timely (Not more than 24 hrs of
identification) intimate appropriate stakeholders of IRCTC and respond to incidents / breach
as per the Regulatory requirements, and international best practices.
9. IRCTC shall have authority to conduct (or through external agency) periodical assessment
of the security requirements to ensure compliance with security policies, procedures, and
Regulations.
10. Selected bidders shall have an appropriate contingency plan (including backup) to recover
the application services/data as and when required (including during any disaster)
11. Data back-up shall be tested periodically and report to be shared with IRCTC
12. The Call Centre Service Provider shall keep the confidentiality, maintain secrecy of all
confidential information and shall not, at any time, divulge such or any part thereof to any
third party except as may be compelled by any court or Selected bidders of competent
jurisdiction, or as otherwise required by law, and shall also ensure that same is not
disclosed to any person voluntarily, accidentally or by mistake.
The roles and responsibilities of service provider shall include, but not limited to, the following
activities:
1. Provide trusted mechanisms, solutions to facilitate sharing of threat, vulnerability and
incident information as per the format agreed in consultation with IRCTC
2. Facilitate IRCTC during the assessment of security environment and threat perceptions if
conducted by IRCTC.
3. The bidder is required to implement the security solution of IRCTC in line with the minimum-
security requirements stated in the RFP as well as the leading standards and guidelines
stated in the RFP at no additional cost to IRCTC. Further, any security risk / vulnerability
identified during the project should be mitigated by bidder, at no additional cost to IRCTC.
However, if IRCTC identifies any additional security up-gradation/ components / measures,
which were not covered as part of the RFP, the bidder shall be responsible for implementing
it in consultation with IRCTC.
4. Establishing subject matter expert committees and teams, including the Threat Intelligence
and Incident Response Team, which shall provide in-depth analysis of risks to the
stakeholder and provide technical, business and operational impact assessments as well as
strategies to mitigate risk.
5. Conduct process-based Risk assessment on a periodic basis
6. Perform security services on the components that are part of the IRCTC environment as per
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 169 of 191
security policy finalized with IRCTC.
7. Reporting security incidents and resolution of the same
8. Proactively monitor, manage, maintain & administer all security solutions
9. The SIEM solution and the required technologies should be integrated with the ticketing
solution and should ensure the required automation for ticket generation
10. Providing root cause analysis for all defined problems including hacking attempts.
11. Monthly reporting on security breaches and attempts plus the action taken to thwart the
same and providing the same to IRCTC.
12. Maintaining documentation of security component details including architecture diagram,
policies and configurations.
13. Performing periodic review of security configurations for inconsistencies and redundancies
against security policy.
14. Performing periodic review of security policy and suggest improvements.
15. Performing capacity management of security resources to meet business needs.
16. Rapidly resolving every incident/problem within mutually agreed timelines.
17. Testing and implementation of patches and upgrades.
18. Implementing and maintaining security rules.
19. Performing any other day-to-day administration and support activities.
20. Configuration, installation, integration and commissioning of the entire security solution
stack.
21. Manage generation, scheduling and storage of daily logs and incident reports
22. Every solution shall have their own management and reporting
23. Technology functionalities as stated for the technologies in the RFP but not limited to should
be factored.
24. The Data Centre Facility on cloud shall at a minimum implement the security toolset:
Security & Data Privacy (Data & Network Security including Anti-Virus, Virtual Firewall,
Single Sign on, UTM, One Time Passwords, Multi Factor Authentication, Log Analyzer /
Syslog, SSL, DDOS Protection, HIDS / NIDS, Rights Management, SIEM, Integrated
Vulnerability Assessment, SOC, Private Virtual Zones, Web Application Filter for
OWASP Top 10 protection, Data Privacy, Data Encryption, Certifications & Compliance,
Authentication & Authorization, and Auditing & Accounting)
25. Following must be adhered for compliance and implementation wherever applicable by
bidder
a. ISO 27001:2013 b. The implementation of proposed solution should be based on ISO 27002 compliance c. ISO 27018:2019 - Code of practice for protection of personally identifiable information
(PII) in public clouds d. Cloud Security ISO Standard ISO 27017:2015, e. Information Technology Act 2000, Section 43A, Penalty and compensation for
damage to computer, computer system, etc. f. Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 g. The compliances should be adhered as per its latest version released
26. All the security as per MeitY guidelines should be provisioned and followed.
27. The sizing of the security solutions should be done by the bidder based on the load
estimated.
28. Solution deployed should be in high availability in DC and DR.
29. All the proposed solution should be integrated with the SIEM solution.
30. All the system should have auto scalable based on the requirements
31. Should adhere to the ever-evolving guidelines as specified by CERT-IN (http://www.cert-
in.org.in/)
32. The OEM of the offered product/service should be in Magic Quadrants for the latest report
published by Gartner/Forrester up to the time of closing of Tender or can be proprietary
solution of the cloud vendors.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 170 of 191
33. The end user computing devices (laptops / desktops) should have appropriate security
solutions such as (Anti-Virus – Anti Malware etc.) to avoid security breach.
34. All assets used by Call Centre (business applications such as Phone, operating systems,
databases, network etc.) for the purpose of delivering services to IRCTC under this project
shall be identified, labelled and classified
35. List of authorized personnel having access to IRCTC resources shall be maintained,
updated and shared with IRCTC on a quarterly basis.
36. Only authorized individuals shall be provided access to information assets processing such
as CRM, other applications, call recordings etc.
37. Call Centre facility or area used for calling or taking calls from the passengers or any
stakeholder shall be restricted with electronic access control and access shall be provided
on the need basis and least privilege based on approval
38. Periodic reconciliation of various access (logical and physical) shall be performed by Call
Centre
39. The Call Centre Service Provider shall conduct background checks for its entire staff
working in this assignment through an agency. Background checks should cover at least the
following: education, criminal record, employment history etc. Call Centre Service Provider
shall maintain the results and share with IRCTC (if required by IRCTC)
40. All staff shall sign a confidentiality agreement/NDA.
41. Periodic Information security training shall be provided to all the staff members. This must
cover various security requirements.
42. Secure connectivity shall be established between Call Centre and DR
43. All systems including desktops, laptops, servers, network devices etc. used for providing
services shall be hardened as per the industry best practices such as CIS Benchmarks.
Only licensed IP phones shall be installed in the Call Centre infrastructure
44. Call Centre Service Provider shall ensure that the latest patches are installed on all the
information assets. The patch management process shall be defined and documented by
Call Centre Service Provider.
45. Anti-virus software must be installed on all systems used to. Virus definitions shall be
updated on a daily basis from the Anti-virus server and daily scans shall be run on the
systems.
46. Security policies such as strong password, password history, password expiry, system login
timeout, no admin access, screensaver etc. shall be applied as per IRCTC policy and
specifications issued from time to time. Active Directory or similar system shall be used to
automatically enforce security policy on all systems
47. Network, operating system, database, application, configuration reviews and other
information security assessment shall be carried out annually and/or during a significant
change in the Call Centre ecosystem by an independent third party and results will be
shared with IRCTC.
48. Call logs of the critical user-activities, exceptions and security events shall be enabled and
stored to assist in future investigations and access control monitoring;
49. Call barge in facility shall be disabled by default on all phones. Only specific phones that
may require barge in facility for quality monitoring purposes shall have call barge in facility
enabled only after business and risk team approvals
50. Identity Information shall not be stored on the workstation and in case if it is required then
Call Centre Service Provider shall ensure that the identity information is encrypted using
strong cryptography controls.
51. Call recordings with caller identity information shall be encrypted;
52. End to end security testing of the applications used by the Call Centre shall be provisioned
by the Call Centre Service Provider. The testing results shall be shared with IRCTC
periodically.
53. The Call Centre Service Provider shall get its operations audited by an information systems
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 171 of 191
auditor certified by a recognized body under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and
furnish certified audit reports to the Authority, upon request or at time periods specified by
the Authority.
54. IRCTC shall reserve the right to audit systems and processes of the Call Centre on an
annual basis and/orneed basis to ensure compliance with stipulated security policy
published time to time, but not limited to this document. The audit plan shall include
information security and technical testing controls required to protect IRCTC information
assets. IRCTC shall share the findings of the audit with the Contact Centre;
55. If any non-compliance is found as a result of the audit, the Call Centre shall:
a. Determine the causes of the non-compliance;
b. Evaluate the need for actions to avoid recurrence of the same;
c. Determine and implement corrective action;
d. Review the corrective action taken.
56. Call Centre and their partners shall ensure compliance to all the relevant laws, rules and
regulations, including, but not limited to, ISO27001: 2013, Information Technology Act 2000
and 2008 amendments and other prevailing laws.
57. Call Centre Agents shall ask minimum data, relevant to Call Centre operation from the caller.
Agents must not collect any information from the caller which is not relevant to the operations.
Agents must be aware of information that needs to be asked from caller depending on the
various call types.
58. The Call Centre Service Provider’s facility, infrastructure and ecosystem shall be subjected to
the requirements under the information security policy of IRCTC.
6.17.3 Analytics and Reporting: Dynamic Dashboard/ MIS Report
The selected Bidder shall provide a performance dashboard of the IRHES 139 operations, this
shall include (but not limited to) all the SLA parameters mentioned in this RFP.
The first cut of the performance dashboard shall be prepared and submitted to IRCTC for
review, IRCTC shall provide the feedback and suggestions on this performance Dashboard and
the Bidder should implement and submit the revised dashboard within the defined timeline. It
may be noted that the performance dashboard may be upgraded from time to time as per the
project requirements and the bidder should implement those with no additional cost.
In addition, the Bidder should also be capable of generating Ad-hoc/customized reports/ MIS as
per IRCTC’s requirement such as:
1. MIS shall generate reports based on: -
a. Type of queries/grievances
b. Repeat Request/Complaints
c. Detailed Analytics on all the SLA’s, reasons for non-compliance, call statistics e.g., time
wise, region wise, zonal wise, station wise, train wise, department wise, severity etc.
2. It shall generate Queue analysis reports. The below mentioned queue analysis list is including
but not limited to: -
a. Number of Waiting Calls
b. Average Call Time
c. Average Waiting Time
d. Abandoned Calls
3. It shall generate different types of reports on Number of calls: -
a. Total Number of Calls- Inbound
b. Number of Calls Diverted to Help Desk Centre CSE’s from IVR
c. Number of calls dropped on the IVR stage
4. It shall generate CSE reports (Summary for All the CSE’s, and Detailed by each CSE’s):
a. Login & Logout Time
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 172 of 191
b. Average Speed of Answer Time
c. Average Talk Time
d. Average Handling Time
e. Average Hold Time
f. Average Wrap up time
g. Number of Dropped Calls before Pickup
h. Number of Dropped Calls after Pickup
i. Idle Time
j. No answer etc.
5. Call Centre Service Provider shall provide a Reporting/Analytics team to prepare performance
dashboard of the call centre operations, this shall include (but not limited to) all service level
parameters mentioned in this RFP. This reporting/MIS team may or may not be dedicatedly
assigned for IRCTC operations.
6. Access to all dashboards shall be provided to IRCTC officials
7. The first cut of the performance dashboard shall be prepared and submitted to IRCTC for
review and approval within 15 calendar days from the date of go-live. The first cut of the
performance dashboard shall contain all the operational service levels mentioned in this RFP
(refer schedule V)
8. IRCTC shall provide the feedback and suggestions within 7 working days of submission of the
performance dashboard.
9. The performance dashboard should be finalized within 20 days from the date of IRCTC’s
feedback and expectations.
10. In addition, this team should also be capable of generating Ad-hoc/customized reports/ MIS
as per IRCTC’s requirement.
11. The report format shall be flexible and shall be made available either in excel, pdf, txt or any
other user-friendly structure/format on the request of IRCTC from time to time. The report
should be configurable to be e-mailed to a defined mailing list.
12. CCSP should be able to analyse the call recordings and provide the dashboard of trending
words fortnightly or as per IRCTC requirement.
13. Detailed BCP Plan and Quarterly audit of BCP by IRCTC IT and Call centre team
14. Monthly Call centre review by IRCTC officials
15. SLA Dashboards variance from contracted levels of performance
16. Operational review findings and process recommendations
17. Overall responsiveness of the call centre to address strategic issues identified in previous
reviews
The report format shall be flexible and shall be made available in web interface, excel, pdf, txt, or
any other user-friendly structure/format on the request of IRCTC from time to time. The report
should be configurable to be e-mailed to a defined mailing list.All reports may be validated by a
third-party auditor. The functional requirement related to Data Analytics to be embedded in the
system is given in Annexure section point 5.20.1.
6.17.4 Capacity Building & Training
Training programme of all the contact centre agents, executives, supervisors and managers
should also be indicated in the proposal. REF shall implement a well-structured training
process to upgrade / update skills of agent, supervisor & other managerial staff of Contact
centres.
Training process shall be periodic and shall include training on contact centre skills as well as
skills related to Railway information & helpline domain.
The REF shall provide training for IRCTC and Railway Staff in contact centre operations &
management. A Project Manager will also be nominated from IRCTC for giving broad overview
of domain knowledge. Further, specific training will have to be given by REF to the nominated
staff of IRCTC.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 173 of 191
6.17.4.1 Orientation Training
Post Issuance of LOI (Letter of Intent) to the selected Bidder, IRCTC will conduct an
orientation workshop along with the Existing Vendor to provide process training with regards
to existing process being followed and key learnings. Post this handholding, Bidder will be
responsible for gaining knowledge of the existing system from the current Vendor of 139. The
Knowledge Transfer from the existing Vendor shall be completed in 30 days’ time frame post
which no query shall normally be entertained.
1. An initial briefing/orientation workshop shall be conducted by IRCTC either at IRCTCs
premises or through electronically or at Call Centre Service Provider’s premises to
provide process training related to scheme, IRCTCs eco-system. The Call Centre Service
Provider shall be required to identify master trainers who shall attend such training. Below
is the tentative agenda of the training: -
a. Introduction to schemes information.
b. Possible complaint types and its resolution.
c. Portability Issues and other related issues
2. The orientation workshop will help the Call Centre Service Provider for smooth roll out of
the initial batches and shall also help Call Centre Service Provider in designing IVRS as
per requirement. Thereafter, based on the workshop,the Call Centre Service Provider is
expected to develop aIRCTC Training Module & a test process for on-boarding of future
resources and submit the same to IRCTC for review and approval within one calendar
month of go-live date.
3. IRCTC will review and approve the training module and the test process. In case of any
changes suggested by IRCTC, changes shall be incorporated and submitted to IRCTC
within 15 days from the date of suggestion. It should be revised and submitted for
approval every quarter. Standard Response templates (SRTs) may require to be changed
very frequently which will be communicated to Call Centre Service Provider on need
basis. Subsequently, Call Centre Service Provider shall update the training modules and
impart internal trainings to Agents on the floor.
6.17.4.2 Resource Training
The selected Bidder shall be responsible for conducting IRHES 139 specific resource on-
boarding training withing two months of issuance of LOI for its staff which will be handling
IRHES Contact Centre.
This training shall include training of basic call/chat/email/app store handling skills, IRHES
specific knowledge & services, soft skills, etc.
The selected Bidder is also expected to evaluate each trainee’s performance through
appropriate test process. The resources clearing the training evaluation test (The resource will
only be allowed 2 attempts to clear the test) shall be forwarded for on-job training. The period
for on-boarding training should be at least 3 working days. The selected Bidder is required to
maintain the results and evidences of training evaluation test and evidences for attending
training for each trainee and make them available to IRCTC or third-party auditors as and
when requested by IRCTC. At no time, any resource not clearing the evaluation test should
be deployed to the IRCTC’s project.
6.17.4.3 On-Job Training
The selected Bidder shall also be responsible for providing on-job training to resources
qualifying the training evaluation test. The methodology used for on-job training may include
shadow resource, continuous monitoring, call audit and feedback etc. The period for on-job
training for each resource should be of at least 15 days post clearing the training evaluation
test.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 174 of 191
1. The Call Centre Service Provider shall also be responsible for providing on-job training to
resources qualifying the training evaluation test.
2. The period for on-job training for each resource should be of at least 15 days post clearing the
training evaluation test. During the on-job training, it is mandatory that the call centre agent
handle live calls at least for 2 hours every day.
3. The number of people hired as per process requirements, along with Attrition replacements
will be part of the 15 days OJT program. This program ends in final certification of the agent to
attend calls independently.
6.17.4.4 Refresher Training
1. Fortnightly refresher training shall be conducted by CCSP process trainers, based on the
training need identified of the agents (Queries received, Areas where agents find it difficult to
answer, process updates received from IRCTC). Each session shall end with a brief
assessment. Record of attendance & assessment scores to be maintained for audit purposes
by IRCTC.
2. As and when new process updates are available, IRCTC may conduct re-fresher training for
the Call Centre Service Provider’s resources deployed on this project. The refresher training
will be on a Train the Trainer basis.
3. If the training is organized at IRCTC’s offices, the trainees of the Call Centre Service Provider
are required to travel to IRCTCs office (cost to be borne by the Call Centre Service Provider).
IRCTC will try to intimate the Call Centre Service Provider at least 7 days prior to training
date, for necessary travel arrangements; It is clarified here that IRCTC shall not make any
additional payment in respect for any travel made for this purpose.
4. As and when new process updates are available, all call centre agents are required to
mandatorily complete the refresher training resource within a weeks' time. The Call Centre
Service Provider shall provide an undertaking to IRCTC post completion of training of all
agents.
6.17.5 Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement
The selected Bidder is expected to deploy dedicated quality assurance team for entire
duration of the contract. The quality assurance team should be independent of the operations
and training team. The quality assurance team should have the facility of remote call listening.
The quality assurance team is responsible for the following, but not limited to: -
a. Ensuring that the resources deployed are in confirmation to minimum qualification set
out in ‘Resource On-Boarding’ in this section.
b. Monitoring 5% calls of all the Call Service Executives during on-job training.
c. Monitoring the performance of Call Service Executives by reviewing at-least 15 calls
per Call Service Executives per month.
d. Performing root cause analysis for repeated failure in service delivery.
e. Providing help in enhancing the existing training modules, frequently asked
questions, etc. that help improve in-house operations as well as provide analysis to
IRCTC for issues being faced by Passengers with regards to IRCTC/Railways.
f. Provide Improvements in User engagement.
g. The Call Centre shall have capacity to ramp up/down the operations as per
requirements and be able to manage sudden spikes.
h. Geographical spread of agents in different locations with cross training for
inbound/outbound processes is necessary
The selected Bidder shall be required to prepare Knowledge base for frequently reported
problems along with the resolution steps/solutions with IRCTC/IR’s help.
Monthly, bidder shall carry out the analysis of the calls (open and closed) to identify the
recurring incidents and conduct a root cause analysis on the same. Bidder shall submit a
report to IRCTC with the analysis and provide inputs to IRCTC. The objective of the analysis
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 175 of 191
shall be to address the repeat incidents and enhance the delivery of services to the end
users.
Bidder shall prepare and submit reports to IRCTC as per the mutually agreed reporting
structure. These reports shall include but not limiting to the following:
a. Incident logs (category, severity and status of call etc.)
b. Incidents escalated
c. SLA compliance/non-compliance report with reasons for non-compliance
d. Detailed analysis of the calls containing opportunities of automation, trainings, FAQs,
etc.
e. Call Service Executives utilization reports
f. MIS reports
6.17.6 Exit Management
Exit Process and Management Plan shall be submitted by successful bidder within 3 months
of starting the operations (go-live). Please refer Schedule II of this RFP for details on the
Exit Management.
6.17.7 Implementation Requirements
Bidder shall follow the schedule as mentioned below. Each of the deliverables should be
accompanied with a presentation on the deliverable by the bidder. The submission of
deliverable will be deemed complete after the submission of the hard / soft copy of the
deliverable and the presentation by the bidder.
The implementation plan is divided into following tracks, here -T (“Letter of Intent/LoA”)
a. Inception Phase: T + 15 days
b. Design Phase: T + 30 days
c. Development and Integration- T + 60 days
d. Testing and Implementation: T + 90 days
e. User Acceptance and Go Live: T + 91 days
f. Operation and Maintenance- Five Years
The following services at the minimum shall be provided by Bidder as part of implementation
and rollout:
6.17.8 Design Phase
6.17.8.1 Project Planning and Monitoring
a. Bidder shall adopt a comprehensive and efficient Project Management methodology to
ensure that project milestones are tracked and met. Bidder will be required to finalize the
Project plan to determine and agree on the project expectations, ground rules, work plan,
communication matrix, timelines, Quality Plan, Configuration Management Plan etc within
15 days of effective date of signing of the contract with IRCTC. Following activities would be
covered under Project Planning and Monitoring:
i. Finalize a set of activities for the project with identification of resource assignments, roles
and responsibilities against each activity
ii. Prepare a project plan including milestones
iii. Communicate the project plan to stakeholders
iv. Measure project deadlines and budget utilization figures
v. Project Quality Plan shall document specific process elements and the quality actions
that the project intends to implement. This shall include the derivation of quality goals,
standards followed, schedule of quality assurance activities in the project, defect control,
correction and preventive methodology, handling process deviations.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 176 of 191
vi. Configuration Management Plan shall contain procedures to be implemented for
managing the configuration of the software solution to be produced by the project. In this
plan, bidder shall identify configuration items, responsibilities of configuration controller,
access restrictions, directory structure needed for configuration management, procedure
for change control, method of tracking the status of configuration items, backup
procedure, configuration audits, release management, archival procedure, procedure for
version / revision numbering.
The detailed project plan shall clearly specify the various project milestones and project
deliverable schedules. It shall also include the following:
i. Project Organization and Management plan
ii. System Design and Development plan
iii. Implementation plan
iv. Pre-commissioning, Operational and User Acceptance Testing Plan
v. Design, Delivery and Installation Plan for Software, Hardware and Network
vi. Training Plan
vii. Support Service Plan
viii. Task, Time, and Resource Schedules (List of tasks, the dependency among the
tasks, the duration to perform the tasks, the resources allocated to perform the tasks,
the scheduled start and finish dates for the task)
ix. Post-support Service Plan
x. Technical Support Plan
xi. Quality Assurance and Control Process details which must include (but not limited to)
xii. Detailing on Metrics, Reviews, Problem Reporting and Corrective action etc.
xiii. Technical and Operational Process which must include (but not limited to) detailing on
Methods, Tools, Techniques etc.
b. The detailed project plan shall be internally reviewed for completeness and correctness by
Bidder and subsequently delivered to the IRCTC for its review and acceptance. The mutually
agreed Project Plan will form the basis for regular project monitoring.
c. Bidder shall hold fortnightly review meetings with the IRCTC for providing detailed report on
the progress of the project (Project Progress Report) clearly highlighting the activities
completed in the reporting period, activities planned for the next reporting period, deviations
from the planned dates, issues / concerns affecting the project progress, impact on the overall
project timelines, project related risks with their mitigation plans.
d. Bidder shall ensure proper configuration management functions are being performed as per
the configuration management plan. Bidder’s Project Manager shall review the activities
periodically.
e. Bidder’s independent quality assurance team shall conduct regular reviews / audits of the
project and ensure that the project adheres to the project plan documents.
6.17.8.2 Requirement Gathering
a. The bidder shall study the detailed requirements specifications as listed in the RFP. The
bidder is required to validate and further elaborate the same based on discussion with IRCTC
and/or their designated agencies. Functional requirements covered under various sections
have been identified from business process and other documents designed during the initial
phases of the project for the bidder to refer.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 177 of 191
b. Bidder shall understand the business processes and other related documents and seek
clarifications from IRCTC, if any.
c. If found necessary to modify the designed processes and other documents for successful
implementation, the same shall be discussed and the relevant documents shall be modified
as and when required during the project implementation
d. Bidder shall interact with the target end users as well as IRCTC and CRIS project team to
gather requirements. It is expected that Bidder gathers requirements through structured
questionnaires, focused interviews with user groups.
e. On gathering the requirements, Bidder shall analyse these requirements to ensure the
requirements are complete, accurate, consistent and unambiguous.
6.17.8.3 Software Development, Customization, Rollout for Applications
Guidelines for Software Development and Testing
a. Bidder shall carry out development or customization of all the solutions using its own
infrastructure including but not limited to servers, storage, software licenses, automated
testing tools etc.
b. Bidder shall ensure that the COTS solution, if any selected are such that they are configured /
customized with minimal modifications to the source code.
c. Bidder shall implement quality standards like CMM/ CMMi for the entire life cycle of the
project. The quality process shall include adequate processes for coding, change
management, defect tracking, testing, review and other software development life-cycle
processes.
d. Bidder shall develop and maintain the Test Environment including required licenses and
hardware using its own infrastructure for the complete contract period.
6.17.9 Implementation
a. Planning: Bidder, in coordination with IRCTC, shall prepare a detailed Implementation Plan
that shall include activities such as User Training and Application Rollout. Bidder shall also
carry out activities to prepare documentations.
b. Documentation
i. Bidder shall develop manuals such as User Manuals, Training Manuals, FAQ & Trouble
Shooting Guide, etc. as agreed upon with IRCTC for different kinds of users such as
System Administrator, Super user, Normal user.
ii. Bidder shall ensure that the documentation is in line with the defined documentation
standards.
iii. Bidder shall use tools for creation of Help documents, User manuals etc. that minimize
the documentation and change efforts.
6.17.9.1 Testing Stage
Under the Testing stage, Bidder shall carryout Integration Planning & Testing as well as
System Test Planning & Testing phases. The following sections explain the scope of each
phase Bidder shall perform.
a. The bidder shall demonstrate the following mentioned acceptance criteria prior to
acceptance of the solution as well as during project operations phase, in respect of
scalability and performance etc.
b. The bidder may propose further detailed Acceptance criteria which the IRCTC will review.
Once IRCTC provides its approval, the Acceptance criteria can be finalized.
c. In case required, parameters might be revised by IRCTC in agreement with bidder and the
revised parameters shall be considered for acceptance criteria.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 178 of 191
d. The bidder would set up a testing environment in its own facility that is separate from the
development, staging and production environment.
Note:
a. Bidder needs to provide the details of the testing strategy and approach including details of
intended tools/environment to be used by the bidder for testing in its technical proposal.
IRCTC does not intend to own the tools.
b. The bidder shall work in a manner to satisfy all the testing requirements and adhere to the
testing strategy outlined. The bidder must ensure deployment of necessary resources and
tools during the testing phases. The bidder shall perform the testing of the solution based on
the approved test plan, document the results and shall fix the bugs found during the testing.
It is the responsibility of the bidder to ensure that the product delivered by the bidder meets
all the requirements specified in the RFP. The bidder shall take remedial action based on
outcome of the tests.
c. The bidder shall arrange for environments and tools for testing and for training as
envisaged. Post Go-Live; the production environment should not be used for testing and
training purpose. If any production data is used for testing, it should be masked, and it
should be protected. Detailed process in this regard including security requirement should
be provided by the bidder in its technical proposal. The process will be finalized with the
selected bidder.
d. All the Third-Party Auditors (TPA) as mentioned above will be appointed and paid by IRCTC
directly. The bidder can also suggest the auditors who may be appointed by IRCTC at its
sole discretion. All tools/environment required for testing shall be provided by the bidder.
e. STQC/Other agencies appointed by IRCTC shall perform the role of TPA. The bidder needs
to engage with the TPA at the requirement formulation stage itself. This is important so that
unnecessary re-work is avoided, and the audit is completed in time. The audit needs to be
completed before Go-Live of different modules. The bidder needs to prepare and provide all
requisite information/documents to third party auditor and ensure that there is no delay in
overall schedule.
f. The cost of rectification of non-compliances shall be borne by the bidder.
6.17.10 Operations and Maintenance
The bidder will operate and maintain all the components of the IRHES 139 for a period of five
(5) years from the date of Go-Live. The Operation and Maintenance part is divided into the
following parts:
6.17.10.1 Application Support and Maintenance
Application support includes, but not limited to, production monitoring, troubleshooting and
addressing functionality/availability and performance issues and implementing system
change requests etc. The bidder shall maintain the application software in good working
conditions; and perform changes and upgrades to the applications as requested by the
authority. All tickets related to any issue/complaint/observation about the system shall be
maintained in an ITIL compliant comprehensive ticketing solution. Key activities to be
performed by the bidder during the application support phase are as follows:
1. Compliance to SLA
The bidder shall ensure compliance with SLAs as indicated in this section of this RFP and any
upgrades/major changes to the software shall be planned by the bidder while ensuring that
the SLA requirements are met at no additional cost to the authority/ IRCTC.
2. Annual Technology Support
The bidder shall be responsible for arranging annual technology support to the IRHES for the
OEM products provided by respective OEMs during the entire O&M phase. It is mandatory for
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 179 of 191
the bidder to take enterprise level annual support over the entire contract duration at minimum
for the software(s) mentioned below:
Operating System
Virtualization layers
Database
Analytics tool
All third-party products/ engines deployed in the IRHES 139
3. Application Software Maintenance
The bidder shall provide continuous and indefinite support through on-site team/telephone/E-
mail/Video Conferencing/installation visits as required. The bidder shall address all the
errors/bugs/gaps in the functionalities of the solution (vis-a-vis the FRS, BRD and SRS signed
off) at no additional cost during the O&M phase.
All patches and upgrades from OEMs shall be implemented by the bidder. Technical
upgrades of installation to the new version, as and when required, shall be done by the
bidder. Any version upgrades of the software/tool/application will be done by the bidder after
seeking prior approval from the IRCTC and submitting the impact assessment of an upgrade
as such.
Any changes/upgrades to the software performed during the support phase shall be subject to
comprehensive and integrated testing by the bidder to ensure that the changes implemented
in the system meet the specified requirements and do not impact any other existing functions
of the system. A detailed process in this regard will be finalised by the bidder in consultation
with the IRCTC.
An Issue log shall be maintained by the bidder for the errors and bugs identified in the solution
as well as any changes implemented in the solution and shall be periodically submitted to the
IRCTC.
The bidder will inform the IRCTC (at least monthly) about any new updates/upgrades
available for all software components of the solution along with a detailed action report. In
case of critical security patches/alerts, the bidder shall inform the IRCTC immediately along
with any relevant recommendations. The report shall also contain the bidder’s
recommendations on update/upgrade, benefits, impact analysis etc. The bidder needs to
execute updates/upgrades though a formal change management process and subsequently
update all documentations and Knowledge databases etc. The bidder will carry out all
required updates/upgrades by following defined processes at no additional cost.
4. Database Administration, Maintenance and Management Services
a. Management of database environment to maintain performance at optimum levels
b. End-to-end management of database on an ongoing basis to ensure smooth functioning of the same.
c. Tasks including, but not limited to, managing changes to database schema, disk space, storage, user roles etc.
d. Conduct code and configuration reviews to provide inputs to IRCTC to improve the performance or resolve bottlenecks if any.
e. Performance monitoring and tuning of the databases on a regular basis including, preventive maintenance of the database as required.
f. Report backup status on a regular basis and ensure prompt problem resolution in case of failures in the backup processes.
g. Manage database upgrade or patch upgrade as and when required with minimal downtime.
h. Regular backups for all databases in accordance with the backup and archive policies and recovery whenever required with appropriate permissions. Testing of backup media
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 180 of 191
should be undertaken from time to time to ensure availability of data. Bidder should coordinate with IRCTC for back-up activities
5. Problem identification and Resolution:
a. Errors and bugs that persist for a long time, impact a wider range of users and are
difficult to resolve in turn lead to application hindrances. The bidder shall resolve all the
application problems through implementation of the identified solution (e.g. system
malfunctions, performance problems and data corruption etc.)
b. Monthly reports on problems identified and resolved would be submitted to the IRCTC
team along with recommended solutions.
6. Change and Version Control
All planned or emergency changes to any component of the system shall be carried out
through the approved Change Management process. The bidder always needs to follow all
such processes (based on industry ITSM framework). For any change, bidder shall ensure:
a. Detailed impact analysis is conducted
b. All Change plans are backed by Roll back plans
c. Appropriate communication on change required has taken place
d. Requisite approvals have been received
e. Schedules have been adjusted to minimize impact on the Production environment
f. All associated documentation is updated post stabilization of the implemented change
g. Version control is maintained for all software changes
The bidder shall define the Software Change Management and Version Control Process.
For any changes to the solution, the bidder must prepare detailed documentation including
proposed changes and impact to the system in terms of functional outcomes/additional
features added to the system etc. The bidder shall ensure that software and hardware
version control is carried out for the entire contract duration.
7. Maintain configuration information: The bidder shall maintain version control and
configuration information for application software and any relevant system documentation.
8. Maintain System documentation: The bidder shall design, update and maintain all the
System documentations of the IRHES. These documents shall be up to date and shall be
shared IRCTC on the regular basis. The bidder should follow latest industry standards to
design and maintain the documentations.
9. All project documents need to follow a proper version control mechanism. The bidder will be
required to keep all project documentation updated and ensure the updated project
documents are submitted to the IRCTC by the end of next quarter in case of any change.
10. For application support, the bidder shall assign a dedicated software support team to be
based at the bidder’s location as a single point of contact for resolution of all application
related issues. This team will receive and resolve all the application related tickets/incidents.
In the technical proposal, the bidder needs to provide the proposed application support team
structure including the number of team members proposed to be deployed along with roles
and skills of each. The Application support team shall comprise of the bidder’s employees.
11. Any software changes required due to problems/bugs in the developed software/application
will not be considered as part of change control and will have to be completed by the bidder
at no additional cost (even if it requires any enhancements/customizations).
6.17.10.2 Master Data Maintenance
The bidder shall be responsible for maintaining all the internal and external master data for
the platform
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 181 of 191
6.17.10.3 Web based SLA Monitoring Tool
Bidder should deploy Web based SLA Monitoring Tool for monitoring all the SLAs as
specified in the RFP.
a. The SLA Monitoring tool shall be tested, audited and certified for its accuracy, reliability
and completeness before it is implemented by the bidder.
b. The selected tool must be from latest Gartner’s magic quadrant leader’s list/equivalent
position in Forrester wave/ leader in IDC marketspace (As a supporting document the
bidder must provide for relevant report of latest Gartner’s magic quadrant leader’s list/
equivalent position in Forrester wave/report of IDC).
c. The IRCTC will periodically conduct quality reviews (preferably quarterly) to ensure that
the tool is monitoring SLAs properly.
d. The bidder will work with IRCTC officials to design these reports as per specific
requirements. The solution provides both real time dashboards and historical view
reporting of the SLA's at to the relevant stakeholders of IRCTC.
e. The SLA monitoring tool should be able to monitor all the service levels defined in the
service level agreement.
f. The SLA Monitoring tool should be web based
g. The tool should be also accessed by smart devices over internet/local airport LAN
h. The SLA monitoring tool will be tested in the Acceptance Phase for acceptance
i. The proposed tool should use smart visualization and graphics
Some of the minimum indicative features of the SLA Monitoring tool includes
a. Integrated performance view of all the SLAs along with various threshold violations for
each service level.
b. Indicate the baseline, breach, lower and high-performance scores against each of the
service level metric in a graphical form.
c. Dashboard must show bidder action taken on each of the SLA breach/ timelines for
resolution etc.
d. The proposed tool should enable users to generate Pre-defined, Standard and Ad-hoc
reports
e. Allow users to generate report with pre-defined fields to get a real-time view of the system
from the portal;
f. Pre-defined Reports will be generated at pre-defined frequencies and will be available for
to the users
g. Standard reports would include reports where report generation criteria are fixed and
options for the same are available to the User. The User can select a combination of
options and submits a request for generation of a report. The system generated the report
and the same would be made available on the User dashboard;
h. Ad hoc Reports: These reports can be generated by the User by raising ad hoc queries.
These would provide the ability to generate ad hoc reports as and when required by
selecting any field, table or column (as per Database design) by drag and drop feature
from the table.
6.17.10.4 Application Monitoring Services
The bidder should ensure exceptional end-user experience and consistently high service levels
that meet business objectives by monitoring all end-user transactions 24x7 with low overhead.
The application performance monitoring solution should accurately measure end-user
transaction performance to prove IT is delivering against SLAs, business objectives and vendor
commitments. APM should be deployed with the objective of improving IT productivity and
control costs by quickly and accurately diagnosing problems occurring deep within the
application and infrastructure, pinpoint failures and speed problem resolution.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 182 of 191
The services to be provided by the bidder for Application Monitoring which includes following
but not limited to:
a. Web/ API services
b. Application server
c. Database server
d. Middleware
e. Value Added Services
f. Other components as proposed by bidder
Application monitoring should map all transactions to the dependent infrastructure in real time
for a single view of application health, business process flow and the entire transaction path to
quickly triage issues
6.17.10.5 Storage Administration & Management Services
a. Management of storage environment to maintain performance at optimum levels.
b. Management of the storage solution including, but not limited to, storage management
policy, configuration and management of disk array, SAN, tape library, etc.
c. Storage management, including but not limited to management of space, volume,
Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks configuration, LUN, zone, security, business
continuity volumes, performance, etc.
6.17.10.6 Workflow Management:
a. Workflow management module shall enable the workflows for various business processes.
This shall include process tasks and routing. Workflow shall allow configuring various users
into the business processes for various kinds of approvals / rejections.
6.17.10.7 Backup and Archival Services
The services to be provided by bidder shall include:
a. Backup of storage as per the defined policies.
b. Monitoring and enhancing the performance of scheduled backups, schedule regular testing
of backups and ensuring adherence to related retention policies as defined by IRCTC.
c. Prompt execution of on-demand backups of volumes and files whenever required or in case
of upgrades and configuration changes to the system.
d. Real-time monitoring, log maintenance and reporting of backup status on a regular basis.
e. Media management tasks, including, but not limited to, tagging, cross-referencing, storing,
logging, testing, and vaulting in fireproof cabinets (onsite and offsite).
f. 365x24x7 support for file and volume restoration requests at the DC
g. Call recording shall be maintained by the bidder for the period of at least 2 months.
6.17.10.8 User Profiles & Account Management
Access management provides the right for users to be able to use a service or group of
services. Access management is the process of granting authorised users the right to use a
service, while restricting access to non-authorised users. The system should be able to identify
and authorize the users and would allow access to IRHES and database. The user access
management system would be able to identify the rights available with the user in terms of
viewing, addition, deletion, modification of the data and generation of various reports through
MIS.
6.17.11 Technical Support
The technical support track includes running centralised helpdesk setup and operations for
IRHES project for a period of 5 years from the date of Go Live.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 183 of 191
1. The help desk will primarily handle technical queries of internal stakeholders which includes
IRCTC, IR, CRIS etc. relating to IRHES.
2. The bidder shall follow the implementation plan for the helpdesk launch as specified in the
project timelines.
3. Helpdesk is required to ensure that the above-mentioned stakeholders can log calls and
complaints for any technical issues they face while using the IRHES. The following is included
in the scope of work of bidder:
4. Landline/mobile number will be taken by bidder in IRCTC's name. This number will be
published, and internal stakeholders can call this number for their issues.
5. Help Desk to have Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system for first level of call segregation.
6. In addition to the telephone call, the bidder shall also provide other channels for call logging
like email and web interface.
7. Language Capabilities: Hindi and English
8. The bidder shall deploy helpdesk application accessible to all users through the IRHES for
logging issues.
9. The service window for Help Desk is 365X24X7 (Monday to Sunday).
10. The helpdesk is also expected to handle queries after their Go-live. The help desk will serve
as single point of contact for reporting/resolution of all tickets (queries, errors, incidents,
issues either application or infrastructure or operations related).
11. Considering the nature of the services, the bidder should decide for imparting proper training
in soft skills; call handling, exposure to related application to prepare the CSEs to answer
different types of queries, and on other aspects of Help Desk.
12. The bidder should ensure that all the staffs are put on actual duty only after providing them
proper training
13. Before deployment of staff, he/she need to undergo training for at least a week time covering
above areas. Certificate of such training need to be submitted on quarterly basis to IRCTC.
The helpdesk would have following major activities and tasks:
1. Issues logged by users through Helpdesk should be accessed and serviced by the helpdesk
personnel.
2. Track and route requests for service and to assist end users in answering questions and
resolving problems. Assign severity level to each ticket as per the SOPs.
3. Acknowledgement should be sent to user along with service ticket number through an email
immediately on call logging.
4. Routing the query received to the concerned team of the bidder for resolution of tickets
5. Notifying users, the problem status and resolution through the tickets over email.
6.18 Project implementation Schedule
6.18.1 Timelines and Deliverables of the Project
Bidder is expected to follow the schedule as mentioned below. Each of the deliverables
should be accompanied with a presentation on the deliverable by the bidder. The submission
of deliverable will be deemed complete after the submission of the hard / soft copy of the
deliverable and the presentation by the bidder. The “Expected Date of Completion” as
mentioned in the table below is the date by which the deliverable shall be submitted to the
IRCTC. The Bidder shall ensure that the deliverable is accepted by the IRCTC as per
schedule mentioned in the table below post review.
Based on the present trend in Contact centre across the world the overall project shall be of
5-year duration which can be extended by another 2 years, since both the hardware and
software is constantly updating, and technology lifecycle is usually 5 years.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 184 of 191
The IRHES is to be executed in a phased manner. Phases are as below:
1. Inception Phase
2. Design Phase
3. Development and Integration Phase
4. Testing and Implementation Phase
5. User Acceptance and Go Live
Phase wise deliverables and timelines are given in table below:
Table 1: Implementation Plan
Phase Deliverable Timelines in
days Milestones
Inception
Date of issuance of Letter of Intent T0
Project Charter
T0+15 days Final Submission of Inception
deliverables
Manpower Training Plan
Functional Requirement
Specification Document
Infrastructure requirements
System Design Document
Solution Architecture
Network Design Document
Hosting Plan
Design
Business Layer Modules Design
Document T0+30 days Final Submission of Design
deliverables Reports and Dashboard Design
Development
and
Integration
Development of IVRS modules
T0+60 days Completion of Development
and Integration deliverables
Development of Reporting
Modules
Setup of hardware infrastructure
Setup of network infrastructure
Development of System, software
and communication module
Integration Testing Report
Testing and
Implementatio
n
Functionality Testing Report
T0+90 days
Submission of testing reports
and closing of all the issues
identified during testing User Acceptance Testing Report
User
Acceptance
and Go Live
T0+91 days Start of Help Desk Centre
operations
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 185 of 191
6.19 Minimum Resource Requirements
6.19.1 Overview
IRCTC expects the selected Bidder to deploy adequately skilled and trained resources to
answer users of IRHES, to provide a consistent and high-quality experience along with a high
percentage of first-time resolution (FTR). To ensure this, IRCTC would expect the selected
Bidder to deploy minimum resources as mentioned below: -
a. Project Manager
b. Team Leaders
c. Solution Architect
d. Network Expert
e. IT Security Expert
f. Contact centre Agents
The selected Bidder is required to do the resource planning and resource deployment, while
maintaining the minimum qualification as mentioned in the technical evaluation criteria.
For estimation of manpower, bidder can refer to Annexure A which provides the
historic call volumes.
Also, the bidder can refer to the Annexure C for call distribution as per language to
deploy the resources to handle callers.
Please note that both the annexures are the calls made to 139 and shall have no
bearing on the fulfilment of SLAs.
6.19.2 Key Personnel
I. Contact centre Agents: The individuals recruited to perform the role of IRHES Contact
centre Agents should meet a minimum qualification of having passed 12th class. They should
have excellent knowledge of desired language and working knowledge of English.
II. Contact centre Team Leaders: The individuals to perform the role of IRHES Contact centre
Team Leaders should have at least 8 years of contact centre experience, in leading teams of
agents under them. The span of control should be limited to 1 Team Leader per shift.
III. Project Manager: The SI will assign a dedicated Project Manager for the IRHES Contact
centre. The individual designated to perform the role of Project Manager for the contact centre
should have relevant experience of 10 years or above in managing large scale projects in
other Contact centre set-ups. He/she should have experience in managing helplines in large
scale projects.
6.19.3 Expected effort from Key personnel deployed by Bidder
Please Note this is the minimum no. of resources which are expected to be deployed by the
selected agency.
S. No. Resource Deployment Number
1. Project Director Implementation Phase – 3 months
Operation and Maintenance - 60 months
1
2. Team Leaders Operation and Maintenance - 60
months 6
3. Solution Architect Implementation Phase – 3 months 1
4. Network Expert Implementation Phase – 3 months
Operation and Maintenance (as and when required)
1
5. IT Security Expert Implementation Phase – 3 months
Operation and Maintenance (as and when required)
1
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 186 of 191
S. No. Resource Deployment Number
6. Data Analyst Implementation Phase – 3 months
Operation and Maintenance (as and when required)
1
7. Data Scientist Implementation Phase – 3 months
Operation and Maintenance (as and when required)
1
8. Contact centre Agents
Operation and Maintenance - 60 months
100
9. Trainer As and when required 1 trainer per 60
resources
All resources must have basic computer knowledge i.e. ability to use computer, MS word, MS
excel, understanding of IT applications, CRM etc. The following are the resource
requirements that the bidder to provide for each of the IRCTC’s processes mentioned in this
section.
SNo. Resource Minimum Qualification Minimum Experience
1. Project Director
Graduate with Post-graduate in management/MBA
Minimum 10 years’ experience in contact centre/BPO operations
Experience in directly managing teams of large (more than 100 gents) callcentre projectsminimum 10 projects
2. Team Leaders
Graduate and ability to speak English and Hindi proficiently and the regional official languages as may be specified by IRCTC
Minimum 2 years’ experience in contact centre/BPO operations
Experience in directly managing teams of large (more than 100 agents) call centre projects minimum 2 projects
3. Solution Architect
B.E./B.Tech/MCA (Computer Science)
Certified in Enterprise Architecture
Minimum 10 yrs. of experience in IT Solution Architectures
4. Network Expert
B.E./B.Tech/MCA (Computer Science/Electronics/IT)
Minimum 10 yrs. of experience in designing end-to-end Network Solutions
5. IT Security Expert
B.E./B.Tech (Computer Science)
Minimum 10 years’ experience in IT security
6. Data Analyst
BE/B.Tech/MCA (Computer Science/Electronics/IT)
Minimum three years of experience of working on data analytics tools like SAS, Power BI, Tableau etc.
At least one year of experience as a data analyst in analytics project.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 187 of 191
SNo. Resource Minimum Qualification Minimum Experience
7. Data Scientist
BE/B.Tech/MCA (Computer Science/Electronics/IT)
Minimum five years of experience of working on data modelling tools like Python, SQL, R etc.
At least two years of experience as a data scientist in analytics project.
8. Contact Centre Agents
Graduate and ability to speak English and Hindi proficiently and the regional official languages as may be specified by IRCTC
Minimum 06 months experience in contact centre/BPO operations
9. Trainer
Must be a graduate or higher in any discipline. must be trained on COPC (or similar) methodology
Minimum 3 years’ experience in contact centre/BPO operations
Minimum 3 years’ experience in delivering training capacity building (on client’s business) in contact centre/BPO operations
Please note that this is the minimum no. of resources which are expected to be deployed by
the selected agency. The bidder is expected to deploy adequate number of resources to
comply with the SLA as mentioned in Scheduled V.
Please note that the REF shall have to provide adequate IVRS capacity and update the
response call flow structure in such a way so as to ensure that at least 85% of the calls
coming to the Call Centre are disposed-off by the IVRS.
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 188 of 191
6.20 Annexure A: Monthly Calls on 139 from July 2007 to Mar 2021
Months 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Jan 1,58,92,967 2,44,36,795 2,07,99,265 1,97,55,099 1,78,02,748 1,42,12,116 1,24,64,298 90,15,518 94,39,734
Feb 1,48,87,466 1,76,52,063 1,90,22,365 1,79,30,924 1,34,26,035 1,25,37,073 1,01,36,393 86,61,332 71,21,981
Mar 1,54,51,720 1,72,34,261 1,95,78,510 1,90,89,626 1,35,44,000 1,28,21,871 1,02,85,402 86,52,714 65,22,520
Apr 1,85,48,574 1,96,79,063 1,87,11,149 2,06,04,507 1,42,38,160 1,27,28,108 1,02,24,193 89,87,284 66,84,891
May 2,34,77,346 2,58,35,455 2,32,52,894 2,24,79,418 1,76,88,918 1,42,10,508 1,23,03,138 94,03,240 78,04,512
Jun 2,07,43,375 2,51,30,607 2,10,39,994 2,13,52,889 1,50,66,300 1,21,90,787 1,06,76,941 80,97,997 66,67,880
Jul 1,61,96,837 2,10,94,312 1,82,04,903 1,88,87,584 1,33,00,439 1,02,52,582 93,87,228 77,30,005 53,77,408
Aug 1,60,60,586 1,74,92,230 1,71,31,629 1,62,53,369 1,22,47,724 1,01,84,020 88,55,525 72,86,566 59,17,529
Sep 1,59,71,136 1,63,72,474 1,66,31,090 1,40,88,936 1,13,25,667 95,21,199 83,54,836 70,63,613 51,80,405
Oct 2,08,13,905 1,97,47,524 2,08,90,161 1,71,67,430 1,43,13,037 1,15,19,428 95,87,756 83,06,341 45,50,809
Nov 1,94,80,288 2,21,53,545 2,14,72,211 1,85,18,201 1,44,77,186 1,02,75,562 96,80,927 81,99,821 57,69,165
Dec 2,04,57,266 1,99,11,656 2,21,82,516 1,90,09,507 1,46,73,734 1,36,56,720 1,01,21,395 1,02,43,832 58,56,823
Total 21,79,81,466 24,67,39,985 23,89,16,687 22,51,37,490 17,21,03,948 14,41,09,974 12,20,78,032 10,16,48,263 7,68,93,657
Avg/day 5,97,209 6,76,000 6,54,566 6,16,815 4,71,518 3,94,822 3,34,460 2,78,488 2,10,668
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 189 of 191
Months 2019 Railway Enq 2019 Rail Madad 2020 Railway
Enq 2020 Rail
Madad Tejas
2021 Railway Enq
2021 Rail Madad Tejas
Jan 67,62,283 - 63,09,192 10,15,266 58,465 39,92,162 7,84,791 67,567
Feb 65,97,761 - 61,41,021 10,56,671 77,375 34,21,290 7,31,282 65,131
Mar 68,19,172 - 61,94,741 11,61,447 97,161 39,81,232 8,29,219 78,160
Apr 78,48,812 - 43,30,795 8,09,213 50,468 May 85,57,939 - 40,89,028 8,93,997 73,984 Jun 87,35,331 - 39,49,187 8,96,796 73,908 Jul 73,19,553 5,56,431 33,91,985 5,85,053 47,366 Aug 69,16,591 11,29,408 33,32,615 6,17,119 50,036 Sep 58,26,540 9,16,454 36,82,398 6,97,378 54,281 Oct 74,71,584 9,44,213 38,63,826 7,16,657 61,435 Nov 72,65,264 9,42,741 33,26,357 8,24,184 77,378 Dec 69,28,201 9,46,276 36,92,277 8,97,592 94,296 Total 8,70,49,031 54,35,523 5,23,03,422 1,01,71,373 8,16,153 1,13,94,684 23,45,292 2,10,858
Avg/day 2,38,490 29,541 1,42,906 27,791 2,230 31,218 6,425 578
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 190 of 191
6.21 Annexure B: Monthly SMS on 139 from July 2007 to March 2021
Months 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Jan
15,06,825 45,82,641 53,90,926 54,74,356 76,37,586 56,89,791 41,20,505 37,52,582 21,19,986 35,14,961 37,98,807 17,97,836
Feb
29,97,737 32,45,356 38,92,088 47,05,973 75,40,584 45,45,269 36,50,025 29,46,831 18,69,730 27,22,840 36,16,498 16,83,463
Mar
38,09,321 35,10,724 45,79,390 49,30,873 65,13,949 46,53,248 43,30,882 28,16,436 18,11,725 35,30,859 24,99,708 12,07,446
Apr 87,131 71,46,153 40,34,057 60,56,891 54,33,537 60,17,478 53,83,905 50,92,178 33,99,904 21,43,843 47,09,572 3,46,366 May 8,43,064 1,01,34,216 83,73,111 63,55,222 80,13,842 77,61,740 67,99,219 54,69,921 45,31,184 38,32,349 50,39,705 2,93,371 Jun 12,50,611 1,08,53,961 61,98,116 64,36,814 60,65,798 69,36,748 54,30,434 43,30,438 34,32,310 19,33,559 44,20,854 8,24,208 Jul 6,15,190 52,55,360 43,56,102 45,57,067 42,93,934 47,44,320 40,03,821 37,12,134 21,74,473 13,08,467 31,70,313 7,40,964 Aug 6,62,320 52,00,889 41,56,703 40,40,078 38,95,695 48,21,940 36,59,278 35,45,198 21,77,013 13,06,988 34,19,391 8,91,126 Sep 8,33,345 30,09,364 41,53,003 36,29,483 36,43,848 43,88,755 36,07,786 33,08,554 21,24,305 11,57,378 32,96,552 11,25,513 Oct 13,64,379 48,30,120 63,61,201 53,62,763 56,18,151 61,14,889 46,23,999 42,86,363 26,94,980 13,96,038 41,65,894 11,68,844 Nov 8,83,116 61,27,194 63,29,234 64,91,879 66,60,805 50,90,032 52,30,143 44,46,214 23,67,733 20,07,802 41,69,978 17,54,573 Dec 12,84,502 59,38,822 59,82,976 61,38,467 66,54,035 64,55,077 52,50,884 47,61,331 23,86,345 20,97,735 43,08,042 17,97,278 Total 78,23,658 6,68,09,962 6,12,83,224 6,29,31,068 6,53,90,847 7,40,23,098 5,88,77,777 5,10,53,743 3,48,04,096 2,29,85,600 4,64,68,961 1,88,57,256 46,88,745
Avg/day 28,450 1,83,041 1,67,899 1,72,414 1,79,153 2,02,803 1,61,309 1,39,873 95,354 62,974 1,27,312 51,523 12,846
RFP for Selection of Managed Service Partner (MSP) for Integrated Railways Helpline& Enquiry System -139
Page 191 of 191
6.22 Annexure C: Call Volumetric as per language
Language No. of Calls Contribution
Hindi 130,035 84.40%
English 12,786 8.30%
Punjabi 1,162 0.75%
Gujarati 710 0.46%
Marathi 1,956 1.27%
Kannada 1,685 1.09%
Malayalam 726 0.47%
Tamil 2,752 1.79%
Telugu 2,266 1.47%
Bengali
Oriya
Assamese
Total 154,078 100.00%
Recommended