Digital Economy Ministry denies wrongdoing in tender process

The Ministry of Digital Economy on Tuesday denied accusations of wrongdoing or favouritism in the Procurement of Power Distribution Units for Computers and Equipment Systems at Divisional Secretariats under the Electronic National Identity Card (e-NIC) Project

In a lengthy statement, the ministry said:

“This project was undertaken with the objective of ensuring the safe and sustainable distribution of electricity to computers and equipment units previously distributed to Divisional Secretariats across the country. These units are essential for the timely implementation of personal registration and biometric data collection as part of the e-NIC initiative. Various cost-effective options were also considered during this procurement.

“The bidding documents for this procurement were prepared based on recommendations from a Technical Evaluation Committee comprising experts in electrical power systems and IT networking, representing the University of Moratuwa and the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). Technical specifications were developed to meet the required standards accordingly. Based on these specifications, the procurement of 700 equipment units was initiated by the Project Procurement Committee, under the guidelines of the National Procurement Commission.

“In preparing the specifications and methodology, the Committee also considered previous experiences encountered by the Department of Immigration and Emigration in connecting standard-grade equipment to IT units established at 51 Divisional Secretariats for the Passport issuance. These included technical failures and unsustainable conditions.

“Considering the high-value and sensitive nature of the equipment used in the e-NIC process, such as devices used to collect biometric data, as well as the safety of both government officers and service recipients, the Committee opted for industrial-grade PDUs instead of domestic-grade units. The required units were to comply with internationally recognised standards such as ISO certifications, British Standards (BS 1363, BS 6500, BS 5733), and CE, RoHS, REACH certifications, along with a 3-year warranty.

“Accordingly, bids were invited from experienced vendors on 29th April 2025, under the tender number DRP/e-NIC/PRO/2025/06 by publishing newspaper notices in all 3 languages.  This was purely an open and transparent National Competitive Bidding (NCB) process, and was not targeted at any specific company. Out of the 11 companies that obtained the tender documents, 8 submitted sealed bids. The proposed pricing of the bidders indicate a wider variance, and was publicly disclosed in a manner accessible to all participants.

“The evaluation of the 8 bids was carried out in three stages, in line with procurement guideline 7.1:

 1. Preliminary Examination of Bids to verify minimum qualifications

 2. Detailed Technical Evaluation

 3. Post-Qualification Evaluation

“According to clause 7.1 of the Government Procurement Guidelines, the selection of the bidder should not based solely on the lowest price, but rather on the “Substantially Responsive Lowest Bid.” Some bidders who offered lower prices failed to meet preliminary or technical requirements and were therefore disqualified from further evaluation.

“Among the technically qualified bids, the selected vendor proposed a price of approximately Rs. 50 million (excluding VAT) for 700 units, meeting all required technical specifications.

“This was not the lowest bid among the bidders, but was the lowest among those that met all technical and procedural requirements. In fact, the selected bid was the 5th lowest among the 8, with 3 other bids offering even higher prices. It should also be noted that transportation costs for these units, each potentially weighing up to 3 kg, to all Divisional Secretariats across the country are included in the quoted price.

“Before final awarding, under clause 8.5 of procurement guidelines, any appeals submitted by disqualified parties had to be reviewed. Two such appeals were received, and the relevant Appeals Committee concluded that it could not agree for the claims. Its final recommendation was therefore forwarded to the Ministry of Digital Economy to take final decision. As of now, no final decision has been made by the Ministry, and the selection process remains under review.

“Accordingly, the current status of this procurement is only the identification of the substantially responsive lowest bid among the qualified proposals. No awarding or payment has been made. Therefore, the claims circulating in some media alleging the government procured unusually high-priced electrical units or that favoritism was shown toward a particular company are categorically rejected.

“We affirm that all remaining procurement related to the Electronic National Identity Card project will continue to be handled under the supervision of the Ministry of Digital Economy, with high transparency, adherence to standards, and cost-effectiveness, as has been the practice thus far.”