How the sellers on Government e-Marketplace get assure quality efficiency?

Any entrepreneur or a manufacturer operating on a small scale can now get an easy GeM registration in its business name. A business would then be able to access the wide interface to sell its items and services to distinguished buyers from the Government sector or PSUs, where there is a huge requirement for such supplies. However, there are certain technical parameters specified by the GeM department for the sellers' items to be uploaded available to be purchased on the GeM portal. The government buyers require top of the line products that satisfy the worldwide benchmarks of value. As needs are, the sellers are required to acquire worldwide accreditations, for example, ISO certification so they can easily sell their items on Government e-Marketplace.

We shall now be aware of the role of ISO certification for the sellers on Government e-Marketplace. Above all, we should rapidly experience the concept of Government e-Marketplace.

1. A general idea about Government e-Marketplace

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is an e-commerce portal operated by the Government of India. It is an online interactive interface where the sellers and government buyers meet to facilitate the procurement of Goods and Services that required by different Government Departments, Organizations and the Public Sector Undertakings. Presently, Government Departments require just top-notch products that are free of defects or blames.

Here comes the role of the ISO certification for the sellers on the Government e-Marketplace. The GeM department has necessitated the ISO certification for the manufacturers, as an essential criterion for their items to be uploaded available to be purchased on the GeM interface.

2. The function of ISO certification as regards the Government e-Marketplace

It is beyond any uncertainty that the benchmarks like the ISO 9001:2015 certification are the universal measures for impeccable Quality Management Systems (QMS). It emphasizes on a well-defined structure for the quality management in all associations for every one of their items, processes and systems. The key objective of this standard is that all results of an association meet the specifications and conditions for all customer fulfilment, in the most attainable way.

Since the Government Departments emphasize the nature of the items they procure from the private sellers, the manufacturers who are possessing a GeM registration as OEM are supposed to have ISO certification for their items.

3. The urgency of the ISO certification for the GeM sellers?

It is imperative to note that lone the manufacturers having GeM registration as OEM on the Government e-Marketplace are supposed to get the ISO certification in India. There are certain stages when the GeM OEM sellers are asked for the ISO certification.

These are given below:

a. Vendor assessment:

Once a manufacturer gets a GeM registration and is given an OEM panel, then the seller needs to complete the Vendor assessment process. The vendor assessment process is subject to quality review by the Quality Council of India [QCI]. During this stage, the manufacturer's items have to proceed with a quality assessment conducted by the Quality Council of India (QCI). The manufacturer might be asked to acquire further certification, for example, ISO certification, specifically the three key ISO benchmarks

ISO 9001:2015 for Quality Management Systems

• ISO 14001:2016 for EMS or environment management

• ISO 45001:2018 for workplace-related health and safety

• ISO 27001:2012 for data Security Management system

On successful assessment, a payment of government fees of INR 11,200/ - + 18% GST (which is non-refundable) must be made.

b. Applying for a government tender:

Another significant stage where the ISO certification is essentially required is when you submit an application for a government tender.

The government departments communicate their necessity on the GeM portal just as the Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) for the procurement of products or services. They invite the GeM sellers to apply for the government tenders. Generally in the tender notice, the government departments clearly specify that the sellers must have ISO certification. Besides, the ISO certification won't be considered if it's obtained after the date of tender production.

c. Product posting

So as to make his items available to be purchased on GeM portal, the seller needs to transfer the items that he wishes to sell on the GeM portal. This process is known as Product posting. During this procedure, the seller is required to give technical specifications of his item. In certain cases, for example, electronic products, extra parameters are required, including ISO certification.

So we can see that the ISO certification is an unavoidable necessity for the manufacturers to sell their items on Government e-Marketplace. Hence the sellers are mainly advised to get an ISO certification well in advance before getting registered on GeM portal. This way they can avoid the hindrances while dealing with the government departments.

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