Jharkhand Tribal Development Society

Dr. Ramdayal Munda Tribal Welfare Research Institute Campus,
Tagore Hill Road, Morabadi, Ranchi – 834008

Phone & Fax No. : 0651-2552088, E-mail: spd.jtds@gmail.com

Advt. No.001/2021-22

Request for Proposal (RFP) from experienced Chartered Accountant Firms/ LLPs for

Statutory Audit

Jharkhand Tribal Development Society or JTDS (hereinafter called “Society”) through The
Government of Jharkhand has received financing from the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD) (hereinafter called “loan”) towards implementing Jharkhand Tribal
Empowerment and Livelihoods Project (JTELP) in selected villages of Jharkhand State. The
Society intends to apply a portion of the funds to eligible payments under the contract for
which this Request for Proposal (RFP) is being issued. JTDS being Implementing Agency
has established a State Project Management Unit (SPMU) at Ranchi and District Offices at
14 tribal sub-plan districts of Jharkhand State.

JTDS invites Proposal (RFP) from experienced Chartered Accountants Firms/LLPs for
Statutory Audit for the F.Y. 2020-21. Terms of Reference (ToR) and Request for Proposal
(RFP) of this assignment will be available from 07/04/2021 in the website
www.jtdsjharkhand.com

Selection of the Firms/LLPs will be done in accordance with the IFAD Procurement
Guidelines. The minimum fee for the audit is mentioned in the RFP. The Firm/LLPs who
quote less than minimum fee will become automatically disqualified from this process.
Interested Firms/LLPs are requested to submit their RFP through Registered Post/Speed
Post/ Courier/ by hand as given in the latest by 01.00 PM on 05/05/2021 at the following
address.

The State Project Director,
Jharkhand Tribal Development Society,
Dr. Ramdayal Munda Tribal Welfare Research Institute Campus,
Tagore Hill Road, Morabadi, Ranchi – 834008

The undersigned reserves the right of rejecting one or all the RFP without assigning any
reason thereof.

Sd/-
State Project Director
Request for
Proposals

1st Edition
December 2020
Jharkhand Tribal Development Society (JTDS)

Request for Proposals

for

External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21

Ref No: SA/2020-21/01

Issue date: 6th April 2021
Table of Contents

Part 1 Proposal and Selection Procedures ....................................................................... 3
Section I. Letter of Invitation Requesting Proposals ....................................................... 4
Section II. Instructions to Consultants ................................................................................ 7
Section III. Proposal Data Sheet (PDS)........................................................................... 34
Section IV. Qualification and Evaluation Criteria .......................................................... 38
Section V. A. Technical Proposal Forms ........................................................................ 46
Section V. B. Financial Proposal Forms ............................................................................ 62
Section VI. Terms of Reference ....................................................................................... 68
Section IX. Revised IFAD Policy on Preventing Fraud and Corruption in its Activities
and Operations .................................................................................................................... 75
Part 1 Proposal and Selection Procedures
Section I. Letter of Invitation Requesting Proposals

[Ranchi, India ]
[April,06,2021]

Re: External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21 [SA/2020-21/01]

Dear Madam/Sir,

1. The Jharkhand Tribal Development Society (JTDS) under Deptt. of Schedule Castes,
Scheduled Tribes, Minorities and Backward Welfare, Govt. of Jharkhand has received
(or in appropriate cases “has applied for”) financing from the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) and intends to apply a part of the financing for the
execution of the consulting services assignment described in paragraph 3 below.
The use of any IFAD financing shall be subject to IFAD’s no-objection, pursuant to the
terms and conditions of the financing agreement, as well as IFAD’s rules, policies and
procedures. IFAD and its officials, agents and employees shall be held harmless from
and against all suits, proceedings, claims, demands, losses and liability of any kind or
nature brought by any party in connection with Jharkhand Tribal Empowerment and
Livelihoods Project (JTELP).

2. The Jharkhand Tribal Development Society or JTDS (hereinafter called “Society”)
through The Government of Jharkhand has received financing from the International
Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in the form of a [“loan”] (hereinafter called
[“loan”] toward the cost of Jharkhand Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Project
(JTELP) in selected villages of Jharkhand State.. The Jharkhand Tribal Development
Society or JTDS (hereinafter called “Society”), an implementing agency of the
Government of Jharkhand, intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this loan to
eligible payments under the contract for which this Request for Proposals is issued.
Payments by the IFAD will be made only at the request of the Jharkhand Tribal
Development Society or JTDS and upon approval by the IFAD, and will be subject, in
all respects, to the terms and conditions of the loan/financing agreement. The
loan/financing agreement prohibits a withdrawal from the loan account for the purpose
of any payment to persons or entities, or for any import of goods, if such payment or
import, to the knowledge of the IFAD, is prohibited by a decision of the United Nations
Security council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. No party
other than the Jharkhand Tribal Development Society or JTDS shall derive any rights
from the loan/financing agreement or have any claims to the proceeds of the loan.

3. The client now invites proposals (“proposals”) from consulting firms to provide the
following services (“services”): Statutory Audit of Jharkhand Tribal Empowerment and
Livelihood Project (JTELP) for Financial Years. 2020-21. Statutory Audit of
Jharkhand Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Project (JTELP) will be allotted to
One applicants/ CA Firms for all 14 (fourteen) DPMU (District Office) as well as
SPMU (Head Office). SPMU (Head Office) at Ranchi and 14 DPMU at Dumka,

Section I Letter of Invitation Requesting Proposals 4

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
Jamtara, Pakur, Simdega East Singhbhum, Godda, Sahebganj, West Singhbhum,
Gumla, Latehar, Lohardaga, Khunti, Ranchi and Saraikela-Kharsawan.

More details on these services are provided in the terms of reference – Section VI.

4. Unless specifically permitted in the RFP, consultants may not associate with other
shortlisted consultants. Subject to restrictions noted in the RFP, consultants may
associate with other non-shortlisted consultants to enhance their capacity to
successfully carry out the assignment.

5. N/A

6. A consultant will be selected using QCBS method evaluation procedure in accordance
with the IFAD Procurement Handbook dated November 2020, which is available at
www.ifad.org/project-procurement. The selection process, as described, may include a
reference check, prior to contract award.

7. The RFP includes the following sections:

Part 1 – Proposal and Selection Procedures

Section I Letter of Invitation Requesting Proposals (LOI)

Section II Instructions to Consultants (ITC)

Section III Proposal Data Sheet (PDS)

Section IV Qualification and Evaluation Criteria

Section V A Technical Proposal Forms

Section V B Financial Proposal Forms

Section VI Terms of Reference

Part 2 – Conditions of Contract and Contract Forms

Section VII Contract Agreement and General Conditions of Contract (GCC)

Section VIII Special Conditions of Contract (SCC), Annexes to Contract and
Contract Forms

Section IX Revised IFAD Policy on Preventing Fraud and Corruption in its
Activities and Operations

8. A pre-proposal conference will be held as described in the proposal data sheet
(“PDS”), Section III of this RFP.

Section I Letter of Invitation Requesting Proposals 5

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
9. Proposals must be delivered to the address and in the manner specified in the PDS
ITC 20.3, 20.5 and 20.7 no later than 01.00 P.M. 5th May 2021.

10. Consultants should be aware that distance and customs formalities may require longer
than expected delivery time. Late proposals will not be accepted under any
circumstances and will be returned unopened to the consultant(s).

11. Electronic proposals shall not be accepted.

Yours Sincerely,

State Project Director
For Jharkhand Tribal Development Society (JTDS)
Dr. Ram Dayal Munda Tribal Welfare and Research Institute Campus,
Tagore Hill Road, Morabadi,
Ranchi-834008, Jharkhand
e-mail: spd.jtds@gmail.com
Tel: 0651-2552088

Section I Letter of Invitation Requesting Proposals 6

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
Section II. Instructions to Consultants

Table of Clauses

A. General ............................................................................................................................ 9

1. Definitions .....................................................................................................................................9
2. Scope of RFP..............................................................................................................................11
3. Source of funds...........................................................................................................................11
4. Prohibited practices.....................................................................................................................11
5. SECAP Performance Standards .................................................................................................14
6. Sexual Harassment, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse ...................................................................14
7. Money laundering and Terrorist Financing ..................................................................................15
8. Qualification and Eligibility of Consultants, Joint Venture and Conflict of Interest ........................15
9. Origin of Goods and Services .....................................................................................................19

B. Contents of RFP ........................................................................................................... 19

10. Sections of RFP ........................................................................................................................19
11. Clarification of RFP ...................................................................................................................20
12. Amendment of the RFP.............................................................................................................21

C. Preparation of Proposals............................................................................................. 21

13. Cost of Proposal .......................................................................................................................21
14. Language of Proposal ...............................................................................................................21
15. Preparation of Proposal ............................................................................................................21
16. Taxes........................................................................................................................................24
17. Only one Proposal ....................................................................................................................24
18. Currencies of Proposal..............................................................................................................24
19. Period of Proposal Validity ........................................................................................................24

D. Submission and Opening of Proposals...................................................................... 24

20. Sealing and Marking of Proposals.............................................................................................25
21. Deadline for Submission of Proposals.......................................................................................26
22. Late Proposals ..........................................................................................................................27
23. Proposal Opening .....................................................................................................................27

E. Evaluation of Proposals............................................................................................... 27

24. Confidentiality ...........................................................................................................................27
25. Clarification of Proposals ..........................................................................................................27
26. Evaluation of Technical Proposals ............................................................................................27
27. Evaluation of Financial Proposals .............................................................................................28
28. Past Performance and Reference Check ..................................................................................30

Section II Instructions to Consultants 7

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
F. Award of Contract......................................................................................................... 31

29. Notice of Intent to Award ...........................................................................................................31
30. Invitation to Negotiations and proceedings................................................................................31
31. Notice of Contract Award ..........................................................................................................33
32. Return of Unopened Financial Proposals ..................................................................................33
33. Commencement Dates .............................................................................................................33

Section II Instructions to Consultants 8

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
A. General

In part 1 (proposal and selection procedures) of this request for proposals (RFP), the

following words and expressions shall have the meanings stated. These definitions shall not

apply to any words or expressions in the sections that make up part 2 (conditions of contract

and contract forms) of this RFP, in which such words and expressions shall have the

meanings stated in GCC sub-clauses 1.1 and 2.1 unless otherwise specified.

a) “Addendum” or “Addenda” means a modification to this RFP

1. Definitions issued by the client.

b) “Associate” or “Member” means any entity that is a member of

the association that forms the consultant. A sub-consultant is

not an associate.

c) “Joint Venture”, “JV”, or “Consortium” means an association of

entities that forms the consultant.

d) “Borrower/Recipient” means the government, government

agency or other entity that signs the financing agreement with

the Fund.

e) “Client” means the procuring entity identified in the Proposal

Data Sheet (PDS).

f) “Confirmation” means confirmation in writing.

g) “Consultant” means any legal entity that may provide or

provides the services to the client under the contract.

h) “Contract” means the contract entered into between the client

and the consultant, including all attachments, annexes, and all

documents incorporated by reference therein, a form of which

is included in part 2 of this RFP.

i) “Days” refers to calendar days.

j) “FBS” means fixed budget selection method as defined in the

IFAD Procurement Handbook.

k) "Financial Proposal" has the meaning given to the term in ITC

sub-clause 15.5.

l) “The Fund” or “IFAD” means the International Fund for

Agricultural Development.

m) “GCC” means the General Conditions of Contract.

n) “Government” means the government identified in the

Proposal Data Sheet (PDS).

o) “Handbook” means the latest IFAD Procurement Handbook as

may be revised from time to time posted on the IFAD website

at www.ifad.org/project-procurement.

p) “IFAD funding” means the funding that IFAD has made

available to the government and/or the funding being

administered by IFAD pursuant to the terms of the financing

agreement.

q) “Instructions to Consultants” or “ITC” means Section II of this

RFP, including any amendments, which provides consultants

with all information needed to prepare their proposals.

Section II Instructions to Consultants 9

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
r) "Key Professional Personnel" means the key professional
personnel identified pursuant to ITC sub-clause 15.3(d).

s) “LCS” means least cost selection method as defined in the
IFAD Procurement Handbook.

t) “PDS” means the Proposal Data Sheet, in Section III of this
RFP, used to reflect specific requirements and/or assignment
conditions.

u) “Personnel” means key professional personnel and additional
staff provided by the consultant, or by any sub-consultants, or
associates that are assigned to perform the services or any
part thereof.

v) "Pre-proposal Conference" means the pre-proposal
conference specified in PDS ITC 2.4, if any.

w) “Project” means the project named in the PDS that is being
funded and/or administered by the Fund, and being
implemented by the client identified in the PDS.

x) “Proposal” means the technical proposal and the financial
proposal for the provision of the services submitted by a
consultant in response to this RFP.

y) “QBS” means quality-based selection method as defined in the
IFAD Procurement Handbook.

z) “QCBS” means quality and cost-based selection method as
defined in the IFAD Procurement Handbook.

aa) “RFP” means this request for proposals, including any
amendments that may be made, prepared by the client for the
selection of the consultant.

bb) “SCC” means the special conditions of contract.
cc) “SEA” means sexual exploitation and abuse and refers to the

IFAD Policy on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse that can be
found on the IFAD website.
dd) “SECAP” means IFAD’s Social Environmental and Climate
Assessment Procedures (SECAP).
ee) “Services” means the tasks to be performed by the consultant
pursuant to the contract.
ff) “SH” means sexual harassment.
gg) “Sub-consultant” means any person or legal entity with whom
the consultant subcontracts any part of the services.
hh) “TEC” means the technical evaluation committee, selected for
the purpose of evaluating the proposals received, that submits
a report with recommendation for award of the contract for
which this RFP is being issued.
ii) "Technical Proposal" has the meaning given the term in ITC
sub-clause 15.3.
jj) “Terms of Reference” or “TOR” means the document included
in this RFP as Section VI, which explains the objectives; scope
of work; activities; tasks to be performed, respective
responsibilities of the client and the consultant; and expected

Section II Instructions to Consultants 10

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
results and deliverables of the assignment.

2. Scope of 2.1 The client will select a consultant in accordance with the selection
RFP method specified in the PDS.

2.2 Throughout this RFP, except where the context requires
otherwise, words indicating the singular also include the plural, words
indicating the plural also include the singular, and the feminine means
the masculine and vice versa.

2.3 Consultants are invited to submit a technical proposal and a
financial proposal for services required for this assignment as named in
the PDS. The proposal will be the basis for contract negotiations and
ultimately for a signed contract with the selected consultant.

2.4 Consultants should familiarize themselves with local conditions
and take them into account in preparing their proposals. To obtain first-
hand information on the assignment and local conditions, consultants
are encouraged to attend a pre-proposal conference if one is specified in
the PDS.

2.5 The client will timely provide, at no cost to the consultant, the
inputs and facilities specified in the PDS, assist the firm in obtaining
licenses and permits needed to carry out the services, and make
available relevant project data and reports. No other inputs will be
provided. Therefore, a consultant shall plan to cover all incurred
expenses that may be foreseen to initiate and sustain the services in a
timely manner, including but not limited to office space, communication,
insurance, office equipment, travel, etc. not otherwise specified in the
PDS.

2.6 The client is not bound to accept any proposal, and reserves the
right to cancel the procurement at any time prior to contract award,
without thereby incurring any liability to any consultant.

3. Source of 3.1 The borrower or recipient and the sources of funds are specified in
funds the PDS.

4. Prohibited 4.1 The Fund requires that all beneficiaries of IFAD funding, including
practices the client and any consultants, implementing partners, service providers,
suppliers, sub-suppliers, contractors, sub-contractors, consultants, sub-
consultants, and any of their agents (whether declared or not) and
personnel observe the highest standards of ethics during the
procurement and execution of such contracts, and comply with IFAD’s

Section II Instructions to Consultants 11

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
Policy on Preventing Fraud and Corruption in its Activities and
Operations, revised on 12 December 2018 and attached as Section IX
of this document (EB 2018/125/R.6, hereinafter “IFAD’s Anticorruption
Policy”).

4.2 For the purposes of these provisions, and consistent with IFAD’s
Anticorruption Policy, the terms set forth below are defined as follows,
and referred to collectively as “Prohibited Practices”:

a) “corrupt practice” is the offering, giving, receiving, or
soliciting, directly or indirectly, of anything of value in order to
improperly influence the actions of another party;

b) “fraudulent practice” is any act or omission, including a
misrepresentation, that knowingly or recklessly misleads, or
attempts to mislead, a party in order to obtain a financial or
other benefit or to avoid an obligation;

c) “collusive practice” is an arrangement between two or more
parties designed to achieve an improper purpose, including
improperly influencing the actions of another party;

d) “coercive practice” is impairing or harming, or threatening to
impair or harm, directly or indirectly, any party or the property
of any party, to improperly influence the actions of that or
another party;

e) “obstructive practice” is (i) deliberately destroying, falsifying,
altering or concealing evidence that may be material to an
investigation by the Fund or making false statements to
investigators in order to materially impede an investigation by
the Fund; (ii) threatening, harassing or intimidating any party
in order to prevent that party from disclosing its knowledge of
matters relevant to an investigation by the Fund or from
pursuing such an investigation; and/or (iii) the commission of
any act intended to materially impede the exercise of the
Fund’s contractual rights of audit, inspection and access to
information.

4.3 The Fund will deny financing of a proposed contract award if it
determines that the firm or individual recommended for award, or any of
its personnel or agents, or its sub-consultants, sub-contractors, service
providers, suppliers, sub-suppliers and/or any of their personnel or
agents, has, directly or indirectly, engaged in any of the prohibited
practices in connection with an IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed
activity or operation, including in competing for the contract.

4.4 In accordance with IFAD’s Anticorruption Policy, the Fund has the

Section II Instructions to Consultants 12

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
right to sanction firms and individuals, including by declaring them
ineligible, either indefinitely or for a stated period of time, to participate in
any IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed activity or operation. This may
include ineligibility to: (i) be awarded or otherwise benefit from any IFAD-
financed contract, financially or in any other manner; (ii) be a nominated
sub-contractor, consultant, manufacturer, supplier, sub-supplier, agent
or service provider of an otherwise eligible firm being awarded an IFAD-
financed contract; and (iii) receive the proceeds of any loan or grant
provided by the Fund.1The Fund also has the right to unilaterally
recognize debarments by any of the International Financial Institutions
that are members to the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of
Debarment Decisions if such debarments meet the requirements for
mutual recognition under the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of
Debarment Decisions.

4.5 In addition, the Fund has the right to, at any time, declare a mis-
procurement and/or the ineligibility of any expenditures associated with
a procurement process or contract if it determines that prohibited
practices occurred in connection with this procurement process or
contract and that the borrower/recipient has not taken timely and
appropriate action, satisfactory to the Fund, to address such practices
when they occur.

4.6 Bidders, consultants, contractors, and their sub-contractors, sub-
consultants, service providers, suppliers, agents and personnel, are
required to fully cooperate with any investigation conducted by the Fund
into possible prohibited practices, including by making personnel
available for interviews and by providing full access to any and all
accounts, premises, documents and records (including electronic
records) relating to the relevant IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed
operation or activity and to have such accounts, premises, records and
documents audited and/or inspected2 by auditors and/or investigators
appointed by the Fund.

1 For the avoidance of doubt, a sanctioned party’s ineligibility to be awarded a contract shall include, without
limitation, (i) applying for pre-qualification, expressing interest in a consultancy, and bidding, either directly or as
a nominated sub-contractor, nominated consultant, nominated manufacturer or supplier, or nominated service
provider, in respect of such contract, and (ii) entering into an addendum or amendment introducing a material
modification to any existing contract.
2 Inspections include all fact-finding activities deemed relevant by the Fund to address allegations or other
indications of possible Prohibited Practices. Such fact-finding activities may include, but are not limited to:
accessing and examining a firm's or individual's financial records and information, and making copies thereof as
relevant; accessing and examining any other documents, data or information (whether in hard copy or electronic
format) deemed relevant for the investigation or audit, and making copies thereof as relevant; interviewing staff
and other relevant individuals; performing physical inspections and site visits; and obtaining third party
verifications of information. It is the responsibility of the firm or individual under inspection to ensure effective
compliance with their duty to cooperate vis-à-vis any potential local laws or regulations or other potentially
conflicting obligations.

Section II Instructions to Consultants 13

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
4.7 The consultant is obliged to disclose relevant prior sanctions and
criminal convictions and any commissions or fees paid or are to be paid
to any agents or other party in connection with this procurement process
or the execution of the contract.

4.8 The consultant shall keep all records and documents, including
electronic records, relating to this procurement process available for a
minimum of three (3) years after notification of completion of the
competition process or, in case the consultant who is awarded the
contract, execution of the contract.

5. SECAP 5.1 The resulting contract will be implemented in a manner consistent

Performance with SECAP, available on https://www.ifad.org/secap.

Standards

6. Sexual 6.1 The Fund requires that all beneficiaries of IFAD Funding, including
Harassment, the client and any consultants, implementing partners, service providers,
Sexual suppliers, sub-suppliers, contractors, sub-contractors, sub-consultants,
Exploitation and any of their agents (whether declared or not) and personnel comply
and Abuse with IFAD's Policy to Preventing and Responding to Sexual Harassment,
Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. For the purpose of this provision, and
consistent with IFAD’s Policy to Preventing and Responding to Sexual
Harassment, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse as it may be amended from
time to time, the terms set forth below are defined as follows:

a) Sexual harassment means “any unwelcome sexual advance,
request for sexual favour or other verbal, non-verbal or
physical conduct of a sexual nature that unreasonably
interferes with work, alters or is made a condition of
employment, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive
work environment.

b) Sexual exploitation and abuse means any actual or attempted
abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust,
for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting
monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of
others (sexual exploitation); the actual or threatened physical
intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under
unequal or coercive conditions (sexual abuse).

6.2 Clients and consultants shall take all appropriate measures to
prevent and prohibit SH and SEA on the part of their personnel and
subcontractors or anyone else directly or indirectly employed by them or
any of subcontractors in the performance of the contract. Clients and
consultants shall immediately report to the client or IFAD any incidents
of SH and SEA arising out of or in connection with the performance of
the contract or prior to its execution, including convictions, disciplinary

Section II Instructions to Consultants 14

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
measures, sanctions or investigations. The client may take appropriate
measures, including the termination of the contract, on the basis of
proven acts of SH, SEA arising out of or in connection with the
performance of the contract.

6.3 The consultant is required to disclose any relevant prior sanctions,
convictions, disciplinary measures or criminal records.

7. Money 7.1 The Fund requires that all beneficiaries of IFAD funding or funds

laundering and administered by IFAD, including the client, any consultants, implementing

Terrorist partners, service providers and suppliers, observe the highest standards

Financing of integrity during the procurement and execution of such contracts, and

commit to combat money laundering and terrorism financing consistent

with IFAD’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of

Terrorism Policy.

8. Qualification 8.1 The qualification and eligibility criteria set out in Section IV will
and apply to the consultant, including all parties constituting the consultant,
Eligibility of for any part of the contract.
Consultants,
Joint Venture 8.2 Consultants must satisfy the legal, financial and litigation criteria
and Conflict requirements stated in paragraphs 1.1 to 1.3 of Section IV of this RFP.
of Interest The proposals of consultants who do not satisfy these requirements will
not be evaluated any further.

8.3 In the case where a consultant is, or proposes to be, a joint
venture or other association

a) all members of the joint venture or association must satisfy the
legal, financial, litigation, eligibility and other requirements set
out in this Section IV;

Section II Instructions to Consultants 15

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
b) all members of the joint venture or association will be jointly
and severally liable for the execution of the contract; and

c) the joint venture or association will nominate a representative
who will have the authority to conduct all business for and on
behalf of any and all the members of the joint venture or the
association if awarded the contract, during contract
performance.

8.4 A consultant shall not have any actual, potential or reasonably
perceived conflict of interest. A consultant shall declare in the proposal
submission form any actual, potential or reasonably perceived interest,
regardless of its nature, that affects, may affect, or might reasonably be
perceived by others to affect, impartiality in any matter relevant to the
selection process and the execution of the contract. A consultant with an
actual, potential or reasonably perceived conflict of interest shall be
disqualified, unless otherwise explicitly approved by the Fund. The client
requires that the consultant holds the project’s interests as paramount at
all times, strictly avoiding any actual, potential or reasonably perceived
conflicts of interest, including actual, potential or reasonably perceived
conflicts with other assignments or their own personal and/or corporate
interests, and act without any consideration for any other ongoing or
future work. Without limitation on the generality of the foregoing, a
consultant, including all parties constituting the consultant and their
respective personnel and affiliates, as well as any subcontractors for any
part of the contract, and their respective personnel and affiliates may be
considered to have an actual, potential or reasonably perceived conflict
of interest and disqualified or terminated if they:

a) have, may have or might reasonably appear to have at least
one controlling partner in common with one or more other
competing consultants in the process contemplated by this
RFP or the execution of the contract; or

b) have, may have or might reasonably appear to have the same
legal representative as another consultant for purposes of this
proposal or execution of the contract; or

c) have, may have or might reasonably appear to have a
relationship, directly or through common third parties, that
puts them in a position to have access to undue or
undisclosed information about or influence over the selection
process and the execution of the contract, or influence the
decisions of the client regarding the selection process for this
procurement or during the execution of the contract; or

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d) participate, may participate or might reasonably appear to
participate in more than one proposal in this process;
participation by a consultant in more than one proposal shall
result in the disqualification of all proposals in which the party
is involved; however, this provision does not limit the inclusion
of the same sub-consultant, including individual experts, in
more than one proposal; or

e) are themselves, may be or might reasonably appear to be, or
have, may have or might reasonably appear to have a
business or family relationship with, a member of the client’s
board of directors or its personnel, the Fund or its personnel,
or any other individual was, has been or might reasonably be
directly or indirectly involved in any part of (i) the preparation
of this RFP document, (ii) the selection process for this
procurement, or (iii) execution of the contract, unless the
actual, potential or reasonably-perceived conflict stemming
from this relationship has been explicitly authorized by the
Fund.

8.6 The following conflict of interest rules shall apply with respect
to recruitment of government/client staff within the consultant’s
proposed team:

(a) No member of the client’s board of directors or current employees
of the client (whether part time, or full time, paid or unpaid, in
leave status, etc.) shall be proposed or work as, or on behalf of,
any consultant.

(b) Except as provided in sub-clause 8.6(d), no current employees of
the government shall work as consultants or as personnel under
their own ministries, departments or agencies.

(c) Recruiting former client or government employees to perform
services for their former ministries, departments or agencies is
acceptable provided no conflict of interest exists.

(d) If a consultant proposes any government employee as personnel
in their technical proposal, such personnel must have written
certification from the government confirming that: (i) they will be
on leave without pay from the time of their official proposal
submission and will remain on leave without pay until the end of
their assignment with the consultant and they are allowed to work
full-time outside of their previous official position; or (ii) they will
resign or retire from government employment on or prior to the
contract award date. Under no circumstances shall any
individuals described in (i) and (ii) be responsible for approving

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the implementation of this contract. Such certification shall be
provided to the client by the consultant as part of its technical
proposal.

(e) In the case where a consultant seeks to engage the services of
any person falling under ITC sub-clauses 8.6(a) – 8.6(d), who
may have left the client within a period of less than twelve (12)
months of the date of this RFP, it must obtain a written “no-
objection” from the client for the inclusion of such a person, prior
to the consultant’s submission of its proposal.

8.5 A consultant that has been engaged by the client to provide
goods, works or services for a project, its personnel and any of its
affiliates, shall be disqualified from providing consulting services related
to those goods, works or services. Conversely, a consultant hired to
provide consulting services for the preparation or implementation of a
project, its personnel and any of its affiliates, shall be disqualified from
subsequently providing goods, works or non-consulting services
resulting from or directly related to such consulting services for such
preparation or implementation.

8.6 A consultant is under an obligation to disclose any situation of
actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest that impacts, may
impact, or might reasonably appear to be perceived by others to impact,
their capacity to serve the best interest of the client. Failure to properly
disclose any of said situations may lead to appropriate actions, including
the disqualification of the consultant, the termination of the contract and
any other as appropriate under the IFAD Policy on Preventing Fraud and
Corruption in its Activities and Operations.

8.7 A consultant, all parties constituting the consultants, and any
subcontractors for any part of the contract, and their respective
personnel and affiliates, will not be any person or entity under a
declaration of ineligibility by the Fund for having engaged in prohibited
practices as contemplated by ITB clause 4 above. The Fund also has
the right to unilaterally recognize debarments by any of the International
Financial Institutions that are members to the Agreement for Mutual
Enforcement of Debarment Decisions if such debarments meet the
requirements for mutual recognition under the Agreement for Mutual
Enforcement of Debarment Decisions.

8.8 A consultant, all parties constituting consultant, and any
subcontractors for any part of the contract and their respective
personnel and affiliates not otherwise made ineligible for a reason
described in this ITB Clause 8 will nonetheless be excluded if:

a) as a matter of law or official regulation, the Government
prohibits commercial relations with the country of the

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9. Origin of consultant (including any associates, subcontractors and any
Goods and respective affiliates) provided that the Fund is satisfied that
Services such exclusion does not preclude effective competition for the
supply of goods or the contracting of works or services
required; or

b) by an act of compliance with a decision of the United Nations
Security Council taken under chapter VII of the Charter of the
United Nations, the Government prohibits the issuance of a
payment.

8.9 Consultants shall provide evidence of their continued eligibility in a
manner satisfactory to the client, as the client shall reasonably request.

8.10 If a consultant could derive an unfair competitive advantage from
having provided services related to the assignment in question, the
client shall make available to all consultants, together with this RFP, all
information that would in that respect give such consultant any unfair
competitive advantage over competing consultants.

9.1 Goods supplied and services provided under the contract may
originate from any country, subject to the same restrictions specified for
consultants (including their associates, if any), their personnel and sub-
consultants set forth in ITC sub-clause 8.8.

B. Contents of RFP

10. Sections of 10.1 This RFP consists of parts 1 and 2, which include all the sections
RFP indicated below and should be read in conjunction with any addenda
issued in accordance with ITC clause 12.
Part 1 - Proposal and Selection Procedures
• Section I. Letter of Invitation (LOI)
• Section II. Instructions to Consultants (ITC)
• Section III. Proposal Data Sheet (PDS)
• Section IV. Qualification and Evaluation Criteria
• Section V. A. Technical Proposal Forms
• Section V. B. Financial Proposal Forms
• Section VI. Terms of Reference

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Part 2 -Conditions of Contract and Contract Forms

• Section VII. Contract Agreement and General Conditions of
Contract (GCC)

• Section VIII. Special Conditions of Contract (SCC), Annexes to
Contract and Contract Forms

• Section IX. Revised IFAD Policy on Preventing Fraud and
Corruption in its Activities and Operations

10.2 The client is not responsible for the completeness of this RFP and
its addenda if they were not obtained directly from the source stated by
the client in this RFP.

10.3 The consultant is expected to examine all instructions, forms,
terms, and terms of reference in this RFP. Failure to furnish all
information or documentation required by this RFP may result in the
rejection of the proposal.

11. Clarification 11.1 A prospective consultant requiring any clarification of this RFP
of RFP shall contact the client in writing, or by email or fax at the client’s
address indicated in the PDS. The client will respond to any request for
clarification, provided that such a request is received no later than the
date indicated in the PDS which is prior to the deadline for submission of
proposals. The client shall send written copies of the responses,
including a description of the inquiry but without identifying its source, to
all shortlisted consultants or consultants who have obtained the RFP
directly from the client, as the case may be, by the date specified in the
PDS. Should the clarification result in changes to the essential elements
of this RFP, the client shall amend this RFP following the procedure
under ITC clause 12.

11.2 The consultant’s designated representative is invited to attend a
pre-proposal conference, if provided for in ITC 1.4. The purpose of the
conference will be to clarify issues and to answer questions on any
matter that may be raised at that stage.

11.3 Minutes of the pre-proposal conference, including the text of the
questions and answers pertaining to the conference, without identifying
the source, shall be transmitted in writing to all shortlisted consultants or
consultants who have obtained the RFP directly from the client, as the
case may be. Any modification to this RFP that may become necessary
as a result of the pre-proposal conference shall be made by the client
exclusively through the issue of an addendum following the procedure
under ITC clause 12, and not through the minutes of the pre-proposal
conference.

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12. Amendment 12.1 At any time prior to the deadline for submission of proposals, the
of the RFP client may amend this RFP by issuing addenda.

12.2 All addenda issued shall be part of this RFP, posted on the client’s
website, and shall be communicated in writing to all shortlisted
consultants or consultants who have obtained the RFP directly from the
client, as the case may be.

12.3 To give prospective consultants reasonable time in which to take
an addendum into account in preparing their proposals, the client may
extend the deadline for the submission of proposals at its sole
discretion.

C. Preparation of Proposals

13. Cost of 13.1 The consultant shall bear all costs associated with the preparation
Proposal and submission of its proposal, and the client shall not be responsible or
liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the
proposal process.

14. Language of 14.1 If proposals are to be submitted in both English and/or any other

Proposal language, it shall be so stated in the PDS and the English version shall

govern.

15. Preparation 15.1 In preparing their proposal, consultants are expected to examine in
of Proposal detail the documents comprising the RFP. Failure to provide the
information requested may result in rejection of a proposal.

15.2 While preparing the technical proposal, consultants must give
particular attention to the following:

(a) In the case where there has been no short-listing of consultants,
a consultant may enhance its expertise for the assignment by
associating with another consultant. In the case where a
consultant is, or proposes to be, a joint venture or other
association then it shall be bound by the requirements of ITC 8.3

(b) In the case where there has been short-listing of consultants, if a
shortlisted consultant considers that it may enhance its expertise
for the assignment by associating with other consultants in a joint
venture or sub-consultancy, it may associate with either (a) non-
shortlisted consultant(s), or (b) shortlisted consultant(s) if so
indicated in the PDS. A shortlisted consultant must first obtain the
approval of the client if it wishes to enter into a joint venture with
non-shortlisted or shortlisted consultant(s). In case of association

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with non-shortlisted consultant(s), the shortlisted consultant shall
act as the authorized representative of the association. In case of
a joint venture, all partners shall be jointly and severally liable and
shall indicate who will act as the leader of the joint venture.

(c) The estimated budget or the estimated number of person-months
for key professional personnel envisaged to execute the
assignment is indicated in the PDS. However, the evaluation of
the proposal shall be based on the price relevant to the number of
person-months indicated by the consultant in its proposal.

(d) For assignments based on fixed budget selection (FBS), the
available budget is provided in PDS ITC 15.2(c), and the financial
proposal shall not exceed this budget, while the number of
professional staff-months shall be as estimated by the consultant.

(e) Alternative key professional personnel shall not be proposed, and
only one curriculum vitae (“CV”) may be submitted for each
position indicated in the TOR.

Technical and 15.3 Consultants are required to submit a technical proposal, which
Financial shall provide the information indicated in the following paragraphs (a)
Proposal Format through (g) using the standard forms provided in Section V A. A page is
and Content considered to be printed on one side of an A4 paper.

(a) Information on the consultant’s financial capacity is required (form
TECH-2A of Section V A) unless otherwise stated in the PDS.
Information on current or past proceedings, litigation, arbitration,
action claims, investigations or disputes is required (form TECH-
2B of Section V A). A brief description of the consultants’
organization and an outline of recent experience of the consultant
and of each associate, if any, on assignments of a similar nature
is required (Form TECH-3 and TECH-4 of Section V A). For each
assignment, the outline should indicate the names of associates
or key professional personnel who participated, duration of the
assignment, contract amount, and consultant’s involvement.
Information shall be provided only for those assignments for
which the consultant was legally contracted as a corporation or as
one of the major firms within a joint venture. Assignments
completed by individual professional staff working privately or
through other consultants cannot be claimed as the experience of
the consultant, or that of an associate, but can be claimed by the
professional staff themselves in their CVs. Consultants must be
prepared to substantiate the claimed experience, if so requested
by the client. The contact information for references of the
consultant are required (form TECH-4 of Section V A).

(b) Comments and suggestions on the terms of reference including

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workable suggestions that could improve the quality/
effectiveness of the assignment; and on requirements for
counterpart staff and facilities including administrative support,
office space, local transportation, equipment, data, etc. to be
provided by the client (form TECH-6 of Section V A).

(c) A description of the approach, methodology and work plan for
performing the assignment covering the following subjects:
technical approach and methodology, work plan, and organization
and staffing schedule. Guidance on the content of this section of
the technical proposal is provided (form TECH-5 of Section V A).
The work plan should be consistent with the work and
deliverables schedule (form TECH-9 of Section V A) which will
show in the form of a bar chart the timing proposed for each
activity.

(d) The list of the proposed key professional personnel by area of
expertise, the position that would be assigned to each person,
and their tasks (form TECH-8 of Section V A).

(e) Estimates of the staff input (person-months of foreign and local
professionals) needed to carry out the assignment (form TECH-8
of Section V A). The person-months input must be indicated
separately for home office and field activities, and for foreign and
local professional staff respectively.

(f) CVs of the key professional personnel signed by the staff
themselves and/or by the authorized representative (form TECH-
10 of Section V A).

(g) A detailed description of the proposed methodology and staffing
for training, if training is identified in the PDS as a specific
component of the assignment (form TECH-5 of Section V A).

15.4 The technical proposal shall not include any financial information
other than the required information in form TECH-2A (financial capacity
of the consultant). A technical proposal containing cost information
related to assignment implementation will constitute grounds for
declaring the proposal non-responsive.

15.5 The Financial Proposal shall be prepared using the standard forms
provided in Section V B of the RFP. It shall list all costs associated with
the assignment, including (a) remuneration for key experts and non-key
experts, (b) reimbursable expenses associated with assignment
implementation.

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16. Taxes 16.1 GCC 19 sets forth the tax provisions of the contract. Consultants
must review this clause carefully in preparing their proposals.

17. Only one 17.1 Consultants shall submit only one proposal as a sole consultancy
Proposal firm or as a joint venture member. If a consultant participates in more
than one proposal, all such proposals shall be disqualified. However,
this does not preclude the participation of the same sub-consultants,
including individual experts, in more than one proposal.

18. Currencies of 18.1 Consultants must submit their financial proposals in the currency

Proposal or currencies specified in the PDS. Consultants will be paid in the

currency specified in the PDS.

19. Period of 19.1 Proposals shall remain valid for the period specified in the PDS
Proposal after the proposal submission deadline date prescribed by the client. A
Validity proposal valid for a shorter period shall be rejected by the client as non-
responsive.

19.2 During the period of proposal validity, consultants shall maintain
the availability of key professional personnel identified in the proposal.
The client will make its best effort to complete negotiations within this
period. Should the need arise, however, the client may request
consultants to extend the validity period of their proposals. This request
shall be made within the original validity period of the proposal.
Consultants who agree to such extension shall confirm that they
maintain the availability of the key professional personnel nominated in
the proposal, or in their confirmation of extension of validity of the
proposal, consultants could submit new key professional personnel in
replacement. In such case, a replacement key expert shall have equal or
better qualifications and experience than those of the originally proposed
key expert. The technical evaluation score, however, will be based on
the evaluation of the CV of the original key expert. Consultants who do
not agree have the right to refuse to extend the validity of their
proposals.

D. Submission and Opening of Proposals

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20. Sealing and 20.1 The following applies to the “original” of the technical proposal,
Marking of and of the financial proposal. The “original” shall contain no
Proposals interlineations or overwriting, except as necessary to correct errors
made by the consultants themselves. The person signing the proposal
must initial such corrections, as well as initial each page of the relevant
“original”. The submission letters for the technical proposal and for the
financial proposal should respectively be in the format shown in (form
TECH-1) and (form FIN-1).

20.2 If required in the PDS, the authorized representative of the
consultant signing the “original” of the technical and the financial
proposals shall provide within the technical proposal an authorization in
the form of a written power of attorney demonstrating that the person
signing has been duly authorized to sign the “original” on behalf of the
consultant, and its associates. The signed technical proposals and the
signed financial proposals shall be clearly marked “original”.

20.3 Copies of the technical proposal and the financial proposal shall
be made, in the number stated in the PDS, and each shall be clearly
marked “copy”. If discrepancies are found between the original and any
of the copies of the relevant documents, then the “original” shall govern.
If consultants have the option of submitting proposals electronically, this
shall be stated in the PDS.

20.4 The “original” and each “copy” of the technical proposal shall be
placed in a sealed envelope/parcel clearly marked “technical proposal”.
Similarly, the “original” and each “copy” of the financial proposal shall be
placed in a separate sealed envelope/parcel clearly marked “financial
proposal”.

20.5 Each envelope/parcel shall bear the name and address of the
client as stated in the PDS, the name and address of the consultant (in
case they may have to be returned unopened), and the name and
reference number of the assignment as stated in PDS ITC 2.3.

20.6 In addition, the envelope/parcel containing the original and copies
of the financial proposal shall be marked with a warning “do not open
with the technical proposal”. If the financial proposal is not submitted in a
separate sealed envelope/parcel duly marked as indicated above, this
will constitute grounds for rejecting the proposal.

20.7 The two envelopes/parcels containing the Technical Proposal and
the Financial Proposal shall then be placed into one outer envelope or
carton (as appropriate) and securely sealed to prevent premature
opening. This outer envelope/carton shall bear the submission address,
name and address of the Consultant, name of the assignment and its
reference number, and be clearly marked with the statement indicated in

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the PDS and bear the name and address of the client as stated in PDS
ITC 20.5. The client shall not be responsible for misplacement, losing or
premature opening if the outer envelope/carton is not sealed and/or
marked as stipulated. This circumstance may be cause for proposal
rejection.

21. Deadline for 21.1 Proposals must be received by the client before the submission
Submission deadline specified in the PDS.
of Proposals
21.2 A consultant may withdraw, substitute, or modify its proposal prior
to the deadline for the submission of proposals by sending a written
notice duly signed by the consultant’s authorized representative to the
client’s address indicated in PDS 20.5. The enclosures of the
corresponding substitution or modification of the proposal must
accompany the respective written notice. All notices must be:

(a) clearly marked “withdrawal,” “substitution,” or “modification”;

(b) received by the client prior to the deadline stipulated for
submission of proposals;

(c) sent directly as electronic submissions to the file request link or if
submitting in hard copy to the address indicated in PDS 20.5; and
be

(d) in pdf or word format and in the same number of original and
copies as the original proposal.

21.3 Proposals requested to be withdrawn shall remain unopened. No
proposal may be withdrawn, substituted, or modified in the interval
between the deadline for submission of proposals and the expiration of
the period of proposal validity specified in this RFP.

21.4 The client may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for the
submission of proposals by amending this RFP in accordance with ITC
12, in which case all rights and obligations of the client and the
consultants previously subject to the original deadline shall thereafter be
subject to the new deadline as extended.

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22. Late 22.1 Any proposals received by the client after the deadline for
Proposals submission of proposals shall be declared late, rejected, and returned
unopened to the consultant.
23. Proposal
Opening 23.1 The client shall open the outer envelopes/cartons in a public
meeting at the address, date and time specified in the PDS as soon as
possible after the deadline for submission and sort the proposals into
technical proposals or financial proposals as appropriate. The client
shall ensure that the financial proposals remain sealed and securely
stored until such time as the public opening of financial proposals takes
place.

E. Evaluation of Proposals

24. Confidentialit 24.1 Information relating to the evaluation of proposals and
y recommendations of contract award shall not be disclosed to
consultants or any other persons not officially concerned with the
process, until the publication of the award of contract. The undue use by
any consultant of confidential information related to the process may
result in the rejection of its proposal or may invalidate the entire
procurement process.

24.2 Any attempt or effort by a consultant to influence the client in the
examination, evaluation, and ranking of proposals or contract award
decisions may result in the rejection of its proposal and may subject the
consultant to sanctions and remedies including debarment by IFAD as
per ITB clause 4 in addition to sanctions imposed by the government
and/or the client.

25. Clarification 25.1 To assist in the examination and evaluation of proposals, the client
of Proposals may, at its discretion, ask any consultant for clarification of its proposal.
Any clarification submitted by a consultant that is not in response to a
request by the client shall not be considered. The client’s request for
clarification and the consultant’s response shall be in writing. No change
in the prices or substance of the proposal shall be sought, offered, or
permitted except to confirm the correction of arithmetic errors discovered
by the client in the evaluation of the proposals.

25.2 If a consultant does not provide clarifications of its proposal by the
date and time set in the client’s request for clarification, its proposal may
be rejected.

26. Evaluation of 26.1 The client’s technical evaluation committee (TEC) shall evaluate

Technical the technical proposals on the basis of their responsiveness to the terms

Proposals of reference, applying the evaluation criteria, sub-criteria, and point

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system specified in Section IV. Each responsive proposal will be given a
technical score (St). A proposal may be rejected at this stage if it does
not respond to the RFP or if it fails to achieve the minimum technical
score indicated in the PDS.

26.2 In exceptional circumstances, if none of the scores awarded by the
TEC reach or exceed the minimum technical score (St), the client,
subject to IFAD no-objection, reserves the right to reject all proposals
and to invite a new competition. The new competition shall be based on
a new shortlist of consultants to be established through a “request for
expression of interest” and may include adjustments to the TOR of the
assignment and/or relevant contract parameters, as appropriate. The
new TOR, shortlist and RFP shall be subject to IFAD’s no-objection.

26.3 In case no short-listing has taken place, the consultant’s financial
capability to mobilize and sustain the services is critical and additional
evidence must be provided by the consultant, if so requested by the
client. In its proposal, the consultant is required to provide information on
its financial and economic status unless otherwise stated in PDS ITC
15.3(a). The information required must be provided using the form
TECH-2A.

26.4 A consultant that fails to demonstrate through its financial records
that it has the economic and financial ability to perform the required
services as described in the respective terms of reference shall be
disqualified. In the circumstance of a disqualification the technical
proposal will not be evaluated further and the financial proposal shall be
returned unopened.

26.5 The client, at its discretion, may ask for clarifications or additional
information regarding the information provided in form TECH-2A.

26.6 The outcome of the financial capacity evaluation is a clear “yes” or
“no”. Any consultant that receives a “no” shall not be evaluated further
and its financial proposal shall be returned unopened. The proposals
that receive a “yes” at this stage will be evaluated further according to
the technical scoring methodology described in Section IV.

27. Evaluation of
Financial
Proposals

Financial 27.1 Following the ranking of technical proposals, and after receiving a
Proposals (only “no objection” from IFAD (if applicable), when selection is based on
for QBS) quality only (QBS), the first ranked consultant with financial records
proving that it has the economic and financial ability to perform the
required services as described in the respective terms of reference will
be invited to negotiate its technical and financial proposals and the

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contract in accordance with the instructions given under ITC clauses 29
and30.

Financial 27.2 Following completion of the evaluation of technical proposals, and
Proposals (only after receiving a “no objection” from IFAD (if applicable), the client shall
for QCBS, FBS, inform the consultants who have submitted proposals of the technical
LCS) points (total score only) assigned to each consultant. The client shall
simultaneously notify the consultants that have secured at least the
minimum qualifying mark and with financial records proving that they
have the economic and financial ability to perform the required services
as described in the respective terms of reference of the date, time, and
place set for opening the financial proposals and notify them that their
attendance at the opening of the financial proposals is not mandatory.
The financial proposal opening shall take place at the location indicated
in the PDS. The notification shall also advise those consultants whose
technical proposals did not meet the minimum qualifying mark, or which
were considered non-responsive, that their financial proposals will be
returned unopened after the client has completed the selection process.

27.3 The client shall open the financial proposals in a public meeting at
the address, date and time specified in the notification described in ITC
sub-clause 27.2. All financial proposals will first be inspected to confirm
that they have remained sealed and unopened. Only the financial
proposals of those consultants who met the minimum qualifying mark
following the technical evaluation stage and with financial records
proving that they have the economic and financial ability to perform the
required services as described in the respective terms of reference will
be opened. The Technical Score (St) and only the total proposal price,
as stated in the financial proposal submission form (form FIN-1) shall be
read out aloud and recorded. A copy of the record shall be posted on the
client’s website.

27.4 The financial evaluation of proposal prices shall take into account
the taxes that will be imposed on the consultant in the
borrower/recipient’s country unless otherwise indicated in the PDS. In
time-based contracts, the client shall correct any computational errors,
and in cases of a discrepancy between a partial amount and the total
amount, or between words and figures the former will prevail. In addition
to the above corrections, activities and items described in the technical
proposal but not priced, shall be priced and added to the price of the
respective consultant. Also in the case of time-based contract, where an
activity or line item is quantified differently in the financial proposal from
the technical proposal, the financial proposal shall be adjusted
accordingly to reflect the prices and quantities specified in the technical
proposal. If a lump-sum contract form is included in the RFP, the
consultant is deemed to have included all prices in the Financial

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Proposal, so neither arithmetical corrections nor price adjustments shall
be made and the consultant will be bound to deliver the services as
described in its technical proposal. If consultants are not required to
submit financial proposals in a single currency, prices shall be converted
to a single currency for evaluation purposes indicated in the PDS using
the selling rates of exchange, source and date indicated in the PDS.

27.5 For Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS), the lowest
evaluated Financial Proposal (Fm) will be given the maximum financial
score (Sf) of 100 points. The financial scores (Sf) of the other financial
proposals will be computed as indicated in Section IV: Qualification and
Evaluation Criteria. Proposals will be ranked according to their combined
technical (St) and financial (Sf) scores using the weights (T = the weight
given to the technical proposal; F = the weight given to the financial
proposal; T + F = 100%) indicated in the PDS. S = St x T% + Sf x F%.
The consultant achieving the highest combined technical and financial
score will be invited for negotiations in accordance with ITC clauses 29
and 30, after receiving a “no objection” from IFAD (if applicable) on the
combined technical and financial evaluation report.

27.6 In the case of Fixed-Budget Selection (FBS), the client will select
the firm that submitted the highest ranked technical proposal within the
stipulated budget. Proposals that exceed the indicated budget will be
rejected. In the case of the Least-Cost Selection (LCS), the client will
select the lowest priced proposal among those that passed the minimum
technical score. In both aforementioned selection methods, the
evaluated proposal price according to ITC sub-clause 27.4 shall be
considered, and after receiving a “no objection” from IFAD (if applicable)
on the combined technical and financial evaluation report, the selected
firm shall be invited for negotiations in accordance with ITC clauses 29
and 30.

27.7 Prior to submission for IFAD’s no-objection, the client shall
conduct a verification of the market-reasonableness of the prices
offered. A negative determination (either unreasonably high or
unreasonably low) could be a reason for rejection of the proposal at the
discretion of the client. The consultant shall not be permitted to revise its
submission after a determination that its offered price is unreasonable.
In addition, the client may also verify any information provided on the
TECH forms submitted in the proposal. A negative determination in the
post-qualification could lead to the rejection of the proposal and the
client may, at its discretion, move to invite the next-ranked consultant for
negotiation.

28. Past 28.1 The client reserves the right to check the performance references

Performance provided by the consultant or to use any other source at the client’s

and discretion. A negative determination by the client on the consultant’s

Section II Instructions to Consultants 30

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
Reference record of performance in prior contracts, especially when the invitation
Check was based on prior list, may be a reason for disqualification of the
consultant, or lowering the related evaluation score of the consultant
relevant to past experience, at the discretion of the client.

F. Award of Contract

29. Notice of 29.1 After the completion of the evaluation report and having obtained
Intent to all the necessary internal approvals and IFAD’s no-objection as per the
Award IFAD Procurement Handbook, the client shall send the notice of intent to
award to the successful consultant. The notice of intent to award shall
include a statement that the client shall issue a formal notification of
award and draft contract agreement after expiration of the period for
filing a protest and the resolution of any protest that are submitted.
Delivery of the notice of intent to award shall not constitute the formation
of a contract between the client and the successful consultant and no
legal or equitable rights will be created through the delivery of the notice
of intent to award.

29.2 At the same time it issues the notice of intent to award, the client
shall also notify, in writing, all other consultants of the results of the
selection process. The client shall promptly respond in writing to any
unsuccessful consultant who, after receiving notification of the selection
results, makes a written request for a debriefing or submits a protest as
provided in the IFAD Procurement Handbook.

Protests and 29.3 Consultants may protest the results of procurement only according
Appeals to the rules established in the module M of the IFAD Procurement
Handbook. In case the number of days for

(i) filing the protests;

(ii) automatic lifting of the suspension; and

(iii) the issuance of the written decision;

are different from the ones mentioned in module M; then the number of
days indicated in the PDS shall prevail for each step. In case of an
appeal, the level 2 authority referred to in module M of the IFAD
Procurement Handbook is identified in the PDS.

30. Invitation to 30.1 Upon the expiry of the period for submission of protests and
Negotiations appeals and when all protests and appeals have been resolved, as
and applicable, the client shall send an invitation to negotiations to the
proceedings successful consultant. Negotiations will be held on the date and at the
address indicated in the PDS. The invited consultant (who is invited via
the notification of award) will, as a pre-requisite for attendance at the

Section II Instructions to Consultants 31

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
negotiations, confirm the availability of all the key professional personnel
listed in the technical proposal. Failure to confirm such personnel may
result in the client proceeding to negotiate with the next-ranked
consultant. Representatives conducting negotiations on behalf of the
consultant must have written authority to negotiate and conclude the
contract on behalf of the consultant.

Technical 30.2 Negotiations will commence with a discussion of the technical
Negotiations proposal, including (a) proposed technical approach and methodology,
(b) work plan, (c) organization and staffing, and (d) any suggestions
made by the consultant to improve the terms of reference.

Financial 30.3 The client and the consultant will then finalize the terms of
Negotiations reference, assignment’s implementation methodology including staffing
schedule, work schedule, logistics, reporting and other necessary
adjustments to the consultant’s technical proposal. These documents
will then be incorporated in the contract under “Description of Services.”
Special attention will be paid to clearly defining the inputs and facilities
required from the client to ensure satisfactory implementation of the
assignment. The client shall prepare minutes of negotiations which will
be signed by the client and the consultant, and become an annex to the
contract.

30.4 It is the responsibility of the consultant, before starting financial
negotiations, to determine the relevant local tax amount to be paid by
the consultant under the contract. In no event shall the client be
responsible for the payment or reimbursement of any taxes. The
financial negotiations will involve neither the remuneration rates for staff
nor other proposed unit rates in all selection methods except for QBS.

Availability of 30.5 Having selected the consultant on the basis of, among other
Professional things, an evaluation of proposed key professional personnel, the client
Staff/Experts expects to negotiate a contract on the basis of those personnel named
in the technical proposal.

30.6 During contract negotiations, the client will not consider
substitution of any key professional personnel unless both parties agree
that undue delay in the selection process makes such substitution
unavoidable or for reasons such as death or medical incapacity of one of
the personnel. If this is not the case and if it is established that any key
professional personnel were offered in the proposal without confirming
their availability, the consultant may be disqualified. Any proposed
substitute shall have equivalent or better qualifications and experience
than the original candidate.

Conclusion of the 30.7 Negotiations will conclude with a review of the draft contract and

Negotiations annexes, following which the client and the consultant will initial the

agreed contract. If negotiations fail, the client will invite the consultant

Section II Instructions to Consultants 32

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
whose proposal received the second highest score to negotiate a
contract.

31. Notice of 31.1 Following securing IFAD no-objection to the negotiated contract,
Contract the client shall issue the notice of award to the successful consultant
Award and sign the contract. The client shall publish on the IFAD website and
at UNDB online, the results identifying the procurement, the name of the
winning consultant and the price, duration, and summary scope of the
contract.

32. Return of 32.1 After contract signature, the client shall return the unopened
Unopened financial proposals to the unsuccessful consultants at the cost and
Financial request of the consultant.
Proposals

33. Commencem 33.1 The consultant is expected to commence the assignment on the

ent Dates date and at the location specified in the PDS.

Section II Instructions to Consultants 33

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
ITC 1.1 Section III. Proposal Data Sheet (PDS)

ITC 2.1 General
ITC 2.3 i)“Client” Jharkhand Tribal Development Society (JTDS), is the entity designated
by the government to sign and manage the resulting contract.
ITC 2.4 ii)“government” means the Government of India.
ITC 2.5 iii) “project” means Jharkhand Tribal Empowerment and Livelihoods Project
ITC 3.1 (JTELP).

ITC 11.1 The method of selection is the QCBS method.
ITC 14.1 The name of the assignment is: Statutory Audit of Jharkhand Tribal
ITC 15.2(b) Development Society (JTDS) for F.Y. 2020-21and will be allotted
to one applicant/ CA Firm for all 14 (fourteen) DPMU (District
Office) as well as SPMU (Head Office). SPMU (Head Office) at
Ranchi and 14 DPMUs at Dumka, Jamtara, Pakur, Simdega East
Singhbhum, Godda, Sahebganj, West Singhbhum, Gumla, Latehar,
Lohardaga, Khunti, Ranchi and Saraikela-Kharsawan

Reference number of the assignment is: SA/2020-21/01

A pre-proposal conference will be held at 3.00 P.M. (local time) on 13.04.2021
at SPMU office of JTDS. Attendance is strongly advised for all prospective
consultants or their representatives but is not mandatory.

The client will provide the following inputs and facilities: None

Contents of the RFP

The Jharkhand Tribal Development Society (JTDS) under Deptt. of Schedule
Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Minorities and Backward Welfare, Govt. of
Jharkhand] has received (or in appropriate cases “has applied for”) a financing
from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (“the Fund”) in various
currencies equivalent to [insert total value] towards the cost of Jharkhand
Tribal Empowerment and Livelihoods Project (JTELP), and intends to apply a
portion of the proceeds of this loan/grant to eligible payments under this contract.
NA

Preparation of Proposals

The proposal shall be written in English.

Shortlisted consultants may not associate with shortlisted/non-shortlisted
consultants.

Section III Proposal Data Sheet (PDS) 34

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
ITC 15.2(c) The estimated price the assignment is
The minimum fee estimated for this statutory audit is
ITC 15.2(d) Rs.3,60,000/-(Rupees Three Lakh Sixty Thousand only)
ITC 15.3(a) excluding of GST. GST will be borne by project at prescribed
ITC 15.3(g) rate. The minimum fee does not include other expenses
ITC 18.1 (Travelling, TA, DA etc.).
The minimum fee is an indicative figure however financial
proposal with lower than the established minimum fee will be
treated as non-responsive and the firms proposal would
disqualify.

Reimbursement expenses for travel, lodging and other out of pocket
expenses should be calculated on the number of days of assignment
of each team member (proposed in technical proposal) in the field
and home base, to and fro travel and other incidental expenses.
Consultant’s proposal quoting below the above minimum professional
fee shall be rejected as non-responsive proposal. Financial proposals
without the reimbursement costs shall also be rejected as non-
responsive proposals.
Any abnormally low reimbursement costs proposed without
correlation to the technical proposals will have to be justified. The
firms are advised to calculate the reimbursement costs as per their
firm’s policy.

The financial proposal shall not exceed the available budget of: NA

Information on the consultant’s financial capacity is required (form TECH-2A of
Section V A).
Training is not a specific component of this assignment.

The currency(ies) of the proposal shall be as follows: INR.
The currency(ies) of the payment shall be as follows: INR.

ITC 19.1 Proposals must remain valid for 90 days after the deadline for the submission of
proposals specified in PDS ITC 21.1.

Submission and Opening of Proposals

Section III Proposal Data Sheet (PDS) 35

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
ITC 20.2 Written power of attorney is not required.

ITC 20.3 If submitting a hard copy: a consultant must submit one (1) original and one copy
ITC 20.5 of both the technical proposal and the financial proposal in two separate
envelopes, in the language(s) specified in PDS ITC 14.1.
ITC 20.7
ITC 21.1 Consultants do not have the option of submitting their proposals electronically.
ITC 23.1 If submitting in hard copy, the address for the submission of proposals is:
State Project Director
ITC 26.1 Jharkhand Tribal Development Society (JTDS)
ITC 27.2 Dr. Ram Dayal Munda Tribal Welfare and Research Institute Campus
ITC 27.4 Tagore Hill Road, Morabadi,
ITC 27.5 Ranchi-834008, Jharkhand
Email: spd.jtds@gmail.com
Tel: 0651-2552088

Ensure the outer label (or carton) of the proposal includes this statement:
“Do not open before 05th May 2021 01.00 P.M.”. In addition it must be
addressed to the client’s name and address as per ITC PDS 20.5
Proposals must be submitted no later than 01.00 PM (local time in country),
India on 05th May 2021.
The proposal opening shall take place at
Jharkhand Tribal Development Society (JTDS)
Dr. Ram Dayal Munda Tribal Welfare and Research Institute Campus,
Tagore Hill Road, Morabadi, Ranchi-834008, Jharkhand at 05th May 2021
03.00 P.M..

Evaluation of Proposals

The minimum technical score (St) required to pass is 75 out of 100 possible
points.
For detailed scoring criteria, see Section IV.

The date, hour and place for opening the Financial Envelopes of the proposals that
passed the minimum technical score requirement shall be communicated in due
time by the client.

Taxes payable by the consultant in the borrower/recipient’s country shall be
presented separately in its financial proposal and the client shall evaluate the
consultant’s proposal price “non-inclusive” of the taxes.
The single currency used for evaluation purposes is: INR

The weight given to the technical proposal, T = 80%
The weight given to the financial proposal, F =20%

Award of Contract

Section III Proposal Data Sheet (PDS) 36

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
ITC 29.3 N/A
ITC 30.2
The expected date for contract negotiations is expected to be within 21 days after
ITC 33.1 the opening of the financial proposals and will be held at Jharkhand Tribal
Development Society (JTDS)
Dr. Ram Dayal Munda Tribal Welfare and Research Institute Campus,
Tagore Hill Road, Morabadi, Ranchi-834008, Jharkhand.

The expected date for commencement of the services is 01st June 2021 and the
location is SPMU and DPMUs.

Section III Proposal Data Sheet (PDS) 37

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
Section IV. Qualification and Evaluation Criteria

1.1 Legal Status
Each entity forming the consultant shall attach to form TECH-1 a copy of its letter of
incorporation (registration), or other such document, indicating its legal status. In the
event the consultant is an association of entities, the consultant shall include any other
document showing that it intends to associate, or it has associated with, the other
entity or entities that are jointly submitting a proposal. Each associate or member must
provide the documents required in form TECH-1 as annex.

1.2 Financial Criteria
If required by PDS ITC 15.3(a), the consultant shall provide evidence showing that it
has the sufficient financial capacity needed for this contract, as required in form TECH-
2A. Each associate or member must provide the information required in TECH-2A.

1.3 Litigation Criteria
The consultant shall provide accurate information on any current or past litigation or
arbitration resulting from contracts completed, terminated, or under execution by the
consultant over the last five (5) years, as indicated in form TECH-2B. A consistent
history of court/arbitration decisions against the consultant or existence of ongoing
high value disputes may lead to the rejection of the proposal. Each associate or
member must provide the information required in TECH-2B.

1.4 Evaluation Criteria
A proposal will be rejected if it does not earn a total minimum score identified in PDS
26.1. A proposal may be rejected, at the discretion of the client, if the firm does not
satisfy the mandatory criteria as per table below.

The consultant will be rejected if its proposal does not clearly demonstrate that it
meets the following minimum mandatory criteria:

Ref Item

Mandatory a. Consulting firm should be empanelled with C&AG of India for audit of FY 2020-
Criterion 1 21(Provide copy of empanelment certificate)

b. Consulting firm should have at least 3 or more full time partners who are fellow
members of the ICAI for a period of not less than 3 years.

c. Consulting firm should have an average annual turnover of Rs. 30 Lakhs p.a. for
past 3 years (Provide audited financial statements for the past 3 years)

d. Consulting firm should have experience of at least 10 major audits
(statutory/annual audits of corporate entities, externally aided project (including
Govt. Bodies, PSUs).

e. Any CA firm engaged under JTELP for any management advisory services including
training or internal audit assignment in the last two years (whether continuing
contract or those who have yet to complete the cooling off period as per ICAI
rules) will not be eligible for submitting the proposals.

Section IV Qualification and Evaluation Criteria 38

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
f. The firm or any partners of the firm should not be black listed by any PSU's or
Govt. Co. or any other organisation in respect of any assignment or behaviour.
Any partner/qualified employee of the firm whose name is included in the First or
Second Schedule of the Chartered Accountants Act. 1949 will not be considered in
the evaluation and the firm will provide and undertaking that such partner/
employee will not be involved in the audit, directly or indirectly. Affidavit of not
being black listed has also to be given on a Rs. 100 non judicial stamp paper by
the authorized person.

The client shall use the following criteria and sub-criteria in scoring the technical proposal of
each consultant

Criteria, sub-criteria, and point system for the evaluation of Technical Proposals.

ITC 26.1 Criteria, sub-criteria Points

1. Experience of the Consultant and specific experience to the
similar assignment

Total points for this criterion [30 points]

2. Key Experts’ qualifications and competence for the
Assignment:

{Notes to Consultant: each position number corresponds to the
same for Key Experts in Form TECH-7 &10 to be prepared by
the Consultant}

a) Position K-1: Audit Team Leader [40 points]

b) Position K-2:[ Senior Audit Asst-1] [15 points]

c) Position K-3:[Senior Audit Asst-2] [15 points]

Total points for criterion (2): [70 points]

The number of points to be assigned to each of the above positions
or disciplines shall be determined considering the following three
sub-criteria and relevant percentage weights:

1) General qualifications [20%]

2)Adequacy for the assignment [60%]

3) Experience in region and language [20%]

Total points for this criterion [70 points]

Total points for all criteria 100

Section IV Qualification and Evaluation Criteria 39

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
The minimum technical score (St) required to pass is [ 75 points]

ITC 27.5 If none of the proposals reach or exceed the minimum technical score
specified in PDS 26.1 the client reserves the right to invite the consultant
receiving the highest technical score (St) to negotiate both its technical
and financial proposals, subject to receiving IFAD’s no-objection. If the
negotiations fail to result in an acceptable contract within a reasonable
time, the client reserves the right to terminate the negotiations, subject to
IFAD’s no-objection, and to invite—again, at its sole discretion—the
consultant receiving the next highest technical score (St) to negotiate
both its technical and financial proposals.

The formula for determining the financial scores is the following:
Sf = 100 x Fm / F, in which Sf is the financial score, Fm is the lowest
price and F the price of the proposal under consideration.
The weights given to the technical and financial proposals are:
T = 80 and F = 20.

Section IV Qualification and Evaluation Criteria 40

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
1.5 Qualification Table

Documents needed to be submitted by the consultant in order to establish the Qualifications of the Consultant are indicated in the rightmost
column.

Factor 1.5.1 ELIGIBILITY

1.5.1.1 Consultant
Qualification and
Eligibility Joint Venture or Association Documentation
Required
1.5.1.2 Conflict of Requirement Single Entity All members Each Member At least Sub-Consultant
Interest Must meet combined one Must meet requirement TECH-1 including
In accordance requirement attachments
with ITC 8 member Must meet requirement
Must meet TECH-1 including
No conflicts of requirement Existing or Must meet N/A attachments
interests as
described in ITC intended joint requirement
8 unless the
conflict of venture or
interest has
been mitigated other
and the
mitigation is association
approved by
IFAD. must meet

requirement

Existing or Must meet N / A

intended joint requirement

venture or

other

association

must meet

requirement

Section IV Qualification and Evaluation Criteria 41

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
1.5.1.3 Ineligibility Not having been Must meet Existing or Must meet N/A Must meet requirement TECH-1 including
and Debarment declared ineligible requirement intended joint requirement attachments
based on any of venture or other
the criteria set association
forth in ITC 8 must meet
requirement

The consultant shall provide the information requested in the corresponding information sheets included in Section V Proposal Forms to establish that the
consultant meets the requirements established below. Sub-consultants that are included in the consultant’s proposal shall not be replaced without the client’s
prior permission.

Section IV Qualification and Evaluation Criteria 42

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
1.5.2 HISTORICAL CONTRACT NON-PERFORMANCE

Factor Consultant

1.5.2.1 Pending Joint Venture or Association Documentation
Litigation Required
Requirement Single Entity All members Each member At least Sub-
Consultant
combined one

member

All pending proceedings, Must meet N/A Must meet N/A Must meet Form TECH-2B
litigation, arbitrations, requirement by requirement by
actions, claims, itself, including requirement by itself or as a
investigations or disputes, as member of sub-consultant
in total, shall not represent past or existing itself or as to a prime, or
more than ten percent joint venture or member of past
(10%) of the consultant’s other member of past or existing joint
net worth. association (not venture, or
mandatory if in or existing joint other
the past was as association (not
a member of a venture, or mandatory if in
joint venture or the past was as
other other a member of a
association with joint venture or
less than 20% association (not other
role in the association with
contract). mandatory if in less than 20%
role in the
the past was as contract).

a member of a

joint venture or

other

association with

less than 20%

role in the

contract).

Section IV Qualification and Evaluation Criteria 43

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
Factor 1.5.3 FINANCIAL SITUATION
Consultant
Sub-Factor
Joint Venture
1.5.3.1 Historical
Financial Requirement Single Entity All members Each member At least one Sub-Consultant Documentation
Performance combined member Required
Submission of evidence
to the consultant’s Must meet N/A Must meet N/A N/A Form TECH-2A,
financial capacity to
mobilize and sustain the requirement requirement TECH-2B and
services
form TECH-4

1.5.3.2 Financial The consultant must Must meet Must meet N/A Must meet N/A Form TECH-2A,
Resources demonstrate access to, or requirement requirement
availability of, financial requirement TECH-2B and
resources such as liquid
assets, unencumbered form TECH-4
real assets, lines of credit,
and other financial
means.

Section IV Qualification and Evaluation Criteria 44

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
Factor 1.5.4 EXPERIENCE

Sub-Factor Consultant

1.5.4.1 Requirement Joint Venture Documentation
Organization Required
Capability and Single Entity All members Each At least one Sub-Consultant
Technical
Experience combined member member
1.5.4.2 General &
Specific See criteria table under 1.4 Must meet Must meet N/A N/A N/A Form TECH-3 /
Experience and specific areas of TOR minimum
minimum form TECH-6
requirement
requirement

See criteria table under 1.4 Must meet Must meet N/A Must meet Must meet at Form TECH-4
and specific areas of TOR minimum minimum each discrete least one
requirement requirement specialized
requirement requirement

Section IV Qualification and Evaluation Criteria 45

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
Section V. A. Technical Proposal Forms

Disclosure in these technical forms of any proposed prices will constitute grounds for
declaring the proposal non-responsive; see ITC sub-clause 15.4.
[Comments in brackets on the following pages serve to provide guidance for the preparation
of the technical proposal and therefore should not appear on the technical proposal to be
submitted.]

Form TECH-1. Technical Proposal Submission Form ................................................... 47

Form Tech-2A . Financial Capacity of the Consultant ................................................... 51

Form TECH-2B. Current and Past Proceedings, Litigation, Arbitration, Actions,
Claims, Investigations and Disputes of the Consultant ................................................... 52

Form TECH-3. Organization of the Consultant .............................................................. 53

Form TECH-4. Experience of the Consultant.................................................................. 54

Form TECH-5. Description of Approach, Methodology and Work Plan for Performing
the Assignment 55

Form TECH-6. Comments and Suggestions on the Terms of Reference & Assignment
56

Form TECH-7. Team Composition and Task Assignments .......................................... 57

Form TECH-8. Staffing Schedule (Key Professional Personnel and Support Staff) .. 58

Form TECH-9. Work and Deliverables Schedule ........................................................... 59

Form TECH-10. Curriculum Vitae (CV) for Proposed Key Professional Personnel..... 60

Section V A Technical Proposal Forms 46

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
Form TECH-1. Technical Proposal Submission Form

[Location, date]

To: [The client]
Address:

Ladies and Gentlemen:
Re: [insert title of assignment] RFP Ref: [insert reference as shown on cover page]

1. We, the undersigned, offer to provide the services for the above-mentioned
assignment in accordance with your Request for Proposal (RFP) dated [insert date],
any addenda issued thereto and our proposal.

2. We are hereby submitting our proposal, which includes this technical proposal, and a
financial proposal, each sealed in separate and clearly marked envelope/parcel.

3. We are submitting our proposal in association with:

[insert a list with full name and address of each associated consultant, otherwise
delete this clause]

4. Our firm, its associates, including any subcontractors or suppliers for any part of the
contract, have not been declared ineligible by the Fund and have not been subject to
sanctions or debarments under the laws or official regulations of the client’s country or
not been subject to a debarment recognized under the Agreement for Mutual
Enforcement of Debarment Decisions (the "Cross-Debarment Agreement")3 in
accordance with ITB clause 4, beyond those declared in paragraph 12 of this technical
proposal submission form.

5. We are attaching herewith information to support our eligibility in accordance with
Section IV of the RFP.

6. If negotiations are held during the initial period of validity of the proposal, we
undertake to negotiate on the basis of the nominated key professional personnel.

3 The Cross-Debarment Agreement was entered into by the World Bank Group, the Inter-American
Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, additional information may be located at: http://crossdebarment.org/.

Section V A Technical Proposal Forms 47

[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
7. Our proposal is binding upon us and subject to the modifications resulting from
contract negotiations, and we undertake, if our proposal is accepted, to initiate the
services related to the assignment not later than the date indicated in this RFP.

8. We acknowledge and accept the IFAD Revised Policy on Preventing Fraud and
Corruption in its Activities and Operations. We certify that neither our firm nor any
person acting for us or on our behalf has engaged in any prohibited practices as
provided in ITB clause 4.Further, we acknowledge and understand our obligation to
report to anticorruption@ifad.org any allegation of prohibited practice that comes to
our attention during the selection process or the contract execution. As part of this,
we certify that:

(a) The price of our proposal has been arrived at independently, without any
consultation, communication, or agreement with any other party, including
another consultant or competitor, or for the purpose of restricting competition,
relating to:

(i) those prices;

(ii) the intention to submit an offer; or

(iii) the methods or factors used to calculate the prices offered.

(b) The prices in our proposal have not been and will not be knowingly disclosed by
us, directly or indirectly, to any other consultant or competitor before the
opening of the financial proposals unless otherwise explicitly required by law;
and

(c) No attempt has been made or will be made by us to induce any other consultant
to submit or not to submit a proposal for the purpose of restricting competition.

9. We acknowledge and accept the IFAD Policy to Preventing and Responding to Sexual
Harassment, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. We certify that neither our firm nor any
person acting for us or on our behalf has engaged in any sexual harassment, sexual
exploitation or abuse, as provided in ITB Clause 6. Further, we acknowledge and
understand our obligation to report to ethicsoffice@ifad.org any allegation of sexual
harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse that comes to our attention during the
selection process or the contract execution.

10. The following commissions, gratuities, or fees have been paid or are to be paid with
respect to the creation of the proposal process: [Insert complete name of each
recipient, its full address, the reason for which each commission or gratuity was paid
and the amount and currency of each such commission or gratuity].

Name of recipient Address Reason Amount

If none has been paid or is to be paid, indicate “none.”

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11. We declare that neither our firm nor any of its directors, partners, proprietors, key
personnel, agents, sub-consultants, sub-contractors, consortium and joint venture
partners have any actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest as defined in ITB
Clause 8.4 regarding this selection process or the execution of the contract. [Insert if
needed: “other than the following:” and provide a detailed account of the actual,
potential or perceived conflict]. We understand that we have an ongoing disclosure
obligation on such actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest and shall promptly
inform the client and the Fund, should any such actual, potential or perceived conflicts
of interest arise at any stage of the selection process or contract execution.

12. The following criminal convictions, administrative sanctions (including debarments)
and/or temporary suspensions have been imposed on our firm and/or any of its
directors, partners, proprietors, key personnel, agents, sub-consultants, sub-
contractors, consortium and joint venture partners:

Nature of the Imposed by Name of party Grounds for the Date and
measure (i.e., convicted, sanctioned measure (i.e., fraud in time
criminal or suspended (and procurement or (duration) of
conviction, relationship to corruption in contract measure
administrative consultant) execution)
sanction or
temporary
suspension)

If no criminal convictions, administrative sanctions or temporary suspensions have been
imposed, indicate “none”.

13. We acknowledge and understand that we shall promptly inform the client about any
material change regarding the information provided in this form.

14. We further understand that the failure to properly disclose any of information in
connection with this proposal submission form may lead to appropriate actions,
including our disqualification, the termination of the contract and any other sanction as
applicable under the IFAD Policy on Preventing Fraud and Corruption in its Projects
and Operations.

15. We understand that this proposal, together with your written preliminary acceptance
thereof included in your Notification of Intent to Award, shall only constitute a binding
contract between the firm and the client subject to successful negotiations and the
preparation and execution of the appropriate contract.

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16. We hereby declare that all the information and statements made in this proposal are
true and accept that any misinterpretation contained in it may lead to our
disqualification.

17. We understand and accept without condition that any protest to the process or results
of this competition process may be brought only through the procedures defined in
ITC clause 29.3.

18. We understand you are not bound to accept any proposal that you may receive.

Yours sincerely,
[authorized signatory]
[name and title of
signatory]
[name of consultant]
[address of consultant]

Annexes:

1. Power of attorney (if required) demonstrating that the person signing has been duly
authorized to sign the proposal on behalf of the consultant and its associates;

2. Letter(s) of incorporation (or other documents indicating legal status); and

3. Joint venture or association agreements or the letter of intent to enter into such a JV
signed by the authorized representatives of all the members of the JV (if applicable,
but without showing any financial proposal information).

4. [Other documents required in PDS]

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[External Auditor for Statutory Audit of JTDS for F.Y. 2020-21]- Ref. No: [SA/2020-21/01]
Form Tech-2A. Financial Capacity of the Consultant

The client reserves the right to request additional information about the financial capacity of
the consultant. A consultant that fails to demonstrate through its financial records that it has
the financial capacity to perform the required services may be disqualified.

The consultant’s financial capacity to mobilize and sustain the services may be important for
specific types of services in which the consultant is required to pre-finance significant
expenses in advance of receiving payment from the client. Under these circumstances, an
evaluation of financial capacity will be included in the request for proposals in addition to the
qualitative assessment conducted through form Tech-4. Form Tech-2A will include
requirements on the documentation required to assess financial capacity. The types of
documentation required will vary according to the country context, the type of services being
solicited, and the extent of the financial capacity demanded within the assignment. Examples
of possible documentation required are as follows, but may be supplemented by other types
of documents determined by the client as long as the requirements are reasonable and
relevant to the financial capacity demanded of the services being solicited:

• Audited financial statements for the last three (3) years, supported by audit letters.

• Certified financial statements for the last three (3) years, supported by tax returns.

• Evidence of financing dedicated for the implementation of the services as attested by

an authorized representative of the consultant.

Failure to submit either of the documents as evidence of financial capacity will result in the
rejection of the proposal.

If the proposal is submitted by a joint venture, all parties of the joint venture are required to
submit the financial capacity information requested. The reports should be submitted in the
order of the associate’s significance in the joint venture, greatest to least.

The client reserves the right to request additional information about the financial capacity of
the consultant. A consultant that fails to demonstrate through its financial records that it has
the financial capacity to perform the required services may be disqualified.

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Form TECH-2B. Current and Past Proceedings, Litigation,
Arbitration, Actions, Claims, Investigations and Disputes of the

Consultant

[Provide information on current or past proceedings, litigation, arbitration, action claims,
investigations or disputes over the last five (5) years as shown in the form below. Each
member of the JV shall fill a separate form]

The consultant, or a related company or entity or affiliate, has been involved in any
proceeding, litigation, arbitration, action, claim, investigation or dispute within the past five (5)
years: No:____ Yes:______ (See below)

Litigation, Arbitration, Actions, Claims, Investigations, Disputes During Last Five (5) Years

Year Matter in Dispute Value of Award Against

Consultant in US$

Equivalent

Section V A Technical Proposal Forms 52

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Form TECH-3. Organization of the Consultant

[Provide a brief description of the background and organization of your firm/entity and of each
associated firm for this assignment. Include the organization chart of your firm/entity. The
proposal must demonstrate that the consultant has the organizational capability and
experience to provide home office project management of the contract as well as the
necessary administrative and technical support to the consultant’s project team in country.
The proposal shall further demonstrate that the consultant has the capacity to field and
provide experienced replacement personnel on short notice.]

[Maximum 5 pages per each JV member]

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Form TECH-4. Experience of the Consultant

Using the format below, provide information on each relevant assignment for which your firm,
and each associate for this assignment, was legally contracted as a corporate entity or as
one of the major companies within an association, for carrying out services similar to the
ones requested under the terms of reference included in this RFP. The proposal must
demonstrate that the consultant has a proven track record of successful experience in
executing projects similar in substance, complexity, value, duration, and volume of services
sought in this procurement.
[Each JV member shall fill a separate form]

[Maximum 5 related/similar assignments]

Assignment name: Approx. value of the contract (in current US$):

Country: Duration of assignment (months):
Location within country: Total No. of staff-months of the assignment:

Name of client:

Email and phone of references of the client: Provide contact information for at least three (3)
references that can provide substantial input about
Client address: (1) the type of work performed by you and (2) the
Start date (month/year): quality of the work. For each reference, list a contact
Completion date (month/year): individual, their title, address, phone and e-mail
Name of associated consultants, if any: address:
Approx. value of the services provided by your firm
Narrative description of project: under the contract (in current US$):

No. of professional staff-months provided by
associated consultants:

Name and profile of proposed senior professional
staff of your firm involved and functions performed
(indicate most significant profiles such as project
director/coordinator, team leader):

Narrative description of the project’s mobilization demands and how your firm managed that
mobilization’s administrative, logistical and financial requirements:

Description of actual services provided by your staff within the assignment:

Name of firm: _________________________________

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Form TECH-5. Description of Approach, Methodology and
Work Plan for Performing the Assignment

In this section, the consultant should provide a comprehensive description of how it will
provide the required services in accordance with the terms of reference (TOR) included in
this RFP. Information provided must be sufficient to convey to the technical evaluation
committee that the consultant has an understanding of the challenges in performing the
required services and that it has an approach, methodology and work plan suitable to
overcome those challenges.
Your technical proposal should be divided into the following three (3) chapters:

(a) Technical Approach and Methodology,
(b) Work Plan, and
(c) Organization and Staffing

(a) Technical approach and methodology. In this chapter, you should explain your
understanding of the objectives of the assignment, approach to the services, methodology for
carrying out the activities and obtaining the expected output, and the degree of detail of such
output. You should highlight the problems being addressed and their importance, and explain
the technical approach you would adopt to address them. You should also explain the
methodologies you propose to adopt and highlight the compatibility of those methodologies
with the proposed approach. Also comment here on any specialized equipment and/or
software of which may be necessary to perform the scope indicated in the terms of reference.

(b) Work plan. In this chapter, you should propose the main activities of the assignment,
their content and duration, phasing and interrelations, milestones (including interim approvals
by the client), and delivery dates of the reports. The proposed work plan should be consistent
with the technical approach and methodology, showing understanding of the TOR and ability
to translate them into a feasible working plan. A list of the final documents, including reports,
drawings, and tables to be delivered as final output, should be included here. The work plan
should be consistent with the work and deliverables schedule of form TECH-9.

(c) Organization and Staffing. In this chapter, you should propose the structure and
composition of your team. You should list the main disciplines of the assignment, the key
expert responsible, and proposed technical and support staff.

Note: Where the terms of reference includes tasks relevant to gender and social inclusion,
the proposal should explicitly address how the consultant will perform these tasks in the
technical approach, and methodology, work plan, organization and staffing. We recognize
that this type of expertise and experience may be outside of the normal work of some
Consultants offering proposals, and thus call special attention to the importance of an
adequately inter-disciplinary proposal and staffing plan.
[Maximum 25 pages, including charts and diagrams]

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Form TECH-6. Comments and Suggestions on the Terms of
Reference & Assignment

The client welcomes comments and suggestions to improve the assignment to provide a
better value for money. These comments and suggestions shall not be used for evaluation
purposes, but may be discussed during negotiations. The client is not bound to accept
anything proposed. If the proposed modifications/suggestions would require changes in the
offered price, it shall be noted as such, without giving the price of the change.

[Maximum 5 pages]

A: On the terms of reference

[Present and justify here any modifications or improvements to the terms of reference you are
proposing to improve performance in carrying out the assignment (such as deleting some
activity you consider unnecessary, or adding another, or proposing a different phasing of the
activities).]

B: On the staff and facilities

[Comment here on the staff and facilities to be provided by the client.]

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Form TECH-7. Team Composition and Task Assignments

Key Professional Personnel Area of Position Assigned Task Assigned
Name of Staff Organization Expertise

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Form TECH-8. Staffing Schedule (Key Professional Personnel and Support Staff)

Staff input (in the form of a bar chart)1 Total staff-month input
12 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N
Home Field3 Total

Foreign [Home]
1 Name [Field]
2 Name [Home]
3 [Field]
n [Home]
[Field]
Local [Home]
1 Name [Field]
2
Subtotal

[Home]
[Field]

n

Support Staff Subtotal

Total

1. For key professional personnel, the input shall be indicated individually; for support staff it shall be indicated by category (e.g.: draftsmen,

clerical staff, etc.).

2. Months are counted from the start of the assignment. For each personnel, indicate separately staff input for home and field work.

3. Field work means work carried out at a place other than the consultant's home office.

Full Time Part Time

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Form TECH-9. Work Schedule and Deliverables Schedule

Task Months

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1

3

4

5

6

N And so on

Deliverable

1

2

3

N And so on

[Indicate all main activities of the assignment, including deliverables and other milestones, such as the client approvals. For phased assignments,
indicate activities, deliverables and milestones separately for each phase. Duration of activities shall be indicated in the form of a bar chart. See
TOR for the full list of deliverables. Above is a sample format (to be further completed by the consultant based on the TOR requirements) that
shall be used by the consultant as an indicator of the proposed workload. The submission shall be evaluated as part of the approach and
methodology.]

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Form TECH-10. Curriculum Vitae (CV) for Proposed Key

Professional Personnel

1. Proposed [only one candidate shall be nominated for each position]

Position

2. Name of Firm [Insert name of firm proposing the staff]

3. Name of [Insert full name]

Personnel

4. Date of Birth [Insert birth date]

5. Nationality [Insert nationality]

6. Education [Indicate college/university and other specialized education of

staff member, giving names of institutions, degrees obtained,

and dates of obtainment]

7. Membership in

Professional

Associations

8. Other Training [Indicate appropriate postgraduate and other training]

9. Countries of [List countries where staff has worked in the last ten years]

Work Experience

10. Languages [For each language indicate proficiency: good, fair, or poor in

speaking, reading, and writing]

Language Speaking Reading Writing

11. Employment [Starting with present position, list in reverse order every
Record employment held by staff member since graduation, giving for
each employment (see format here below): dates of employment,
12. Detailed Tasks name of employing organization, positions held.]
Assigned From [month, year]: To [month, year]:
Client:
13. Work undertaken Position(s) held:
that best [List all tasks to be performed under this assignment]
illustrates
capability to [Among the assignments in which the staff has been involved,
handle the tasks indicate the following information for those assignments that best
assigned: illustrate staff capability to handle the tasks listed under point 12.]

Name of assignment
or project:
Month, Year:
Location:
Client:
Main project features:
Position held:
Activities performed:

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14. References [List at least three individual references with substantial
15. Certifications knowledge of the person’s work. Include each reference’s name,
title, phone and e-mail contact information.] [The client reserves
the right to contact other sources as well as to check references]

I, the undersigned, certify that to the best of my knowledge and
belief, this CV correctly describes me, my qualifications, and my
experience. I understand that any willful misstatement described
herein may lead to my disqualification or dismissal, if engaged.
I, the undersigned, hereby declare that I agree to participate with
the [consultant] in the above-mentioned request for proposal. I
further declare that I am able and willing to work:
1. for the period(s) foreseen in the specific terms of
reference attached to the above referenced request for proposal
for the position for which my CV has been included in the offer of
the consultant and
2. within the implementation period of the specific contract.

Signature of Key
Professional Personnel

If this form has not been signed by the key professional personnel, then in signing below,
the authorized representative of the consultant is making the following declaration:
“In due consideration of my signing herewith below, if the key professional personnel has
not signed this CV then I declare that the facts contained therein are, to the best of my
knowledge and belief, a true and fair statement and that I confirm that I have approached
the said key professional personnel and obtained his assurance that he will maintain his
availability for this assignment if the contract is agreed within the proposal validity period
provided for in the RFP.”

Signature of Authorized Representative of the
Consultant

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Section V. B. Financial Proposal Forms

Financial proposal standard forms shall be used for the preparation of the financial proposal
according to the instructions provided under sub-clause 15.5 of Section II Instructions to
Consultants.

[Note to client: add additional forms as appropriate and use forms FIN-3 and FIN-4 as
appropriate. Comments in brackets on the following pages serve to provide guidance for the
preparation of the financial proposal and therefore should not appear on the financial
proposals to be submitted.]

Form FIN-1. Financial Proposal Submission Form ........................................................ 63

Form FIN-2. Price Summary ............................................................................................. 64

Form FIN-3. Breakdown of Price by Activity................................................................... 65

Form FIN-4. Breakdown of Remuneration ...................................................................... 66

Form FIN-5. Breakdown of Reimbursables ..................................................................... 67

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Form FIN-1. Financial Proposal Submission Form

[location, date]

To: [client]
Address:

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Re: [insert title of assignment]
RFP Ref: [insert reference as shown on cover page]

We, the undersigned, offer to provide the services for the above-mentioned assignment in
accordance with your request for proposal (RFP) dated [insert date]4 and our technical
proposal.

Our price as per the attached financial proposal forms is [insert amount(s) in words and
figures and currency]and shall remain fixed throughout the implementation of the
assignment.Our price includes the estimated amount of local indirect taxes is [insert amount
in words and figures in name of currency] which shall be confirmed or adjusted, if needed,
during negotiations.

Our financial proposal shall be binding upon us subject to the modifications resulting from

contract negotiations, up to expiration of the validity period of the proposal, as indicated in

paragraph ITC 19.1 of the PDS.

Commissions and gratuities paid or to be paid by us to agents relating to this proposal and
contract execution, if we are awarded the contract, are listed below:5

Name and Address of Agents Amount and Currency Purpose of Commission or
Gratuity

We understand you are not bound to accept any proposal that you may receive.
We acknowledge that our digital/digitized signature is valid and legally binding.
Yours sincerely,

Authorized signatory

Name and title of signatory

Name of consultant

4Amount must coincide with the ones indicated under total price of form FIN-2
5If applicable, replace this paragraph with “no commissions or gratuities have been or are to be paid by us to
agents relating to this proposal and contract execution”.

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Form FIN-2. Price Summary

Re: [insert title of assignment]
RFP Ref: [insert reference as shown on cover page]

Currency 1 Price1
Currency 2

A. Remuneration:(From FIN-4)

Phase (1) [if applicable]:
Fees:
Taxes in borrower/recipient’s country:

B. Reimbursables: (from FIN-5)
Phase 1:

Total price of financial proposal

1. Indicate the total price to be paid by the client in each currency. Such total price must
coincide with the sum of the relevant sub-totals indicated in form FIN-3. (tax provisions
relevant to this RFP are set out in Section VII General Conditions of Contract.)

2. If the RFP contains 2 phases, both phases will be subject to the proposal evaluation
and the price to be evaluated will be the total price of the 2 phases, though the
contract may be signed only for phase 1.

3. Provide fully loaded prices (including any international travel, communication, local
transportation, office expenses, shipment of personal effects, direct and indirect rates
and profits. Taxes are presented separately).

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Form FIN-3. Breakdown of Price by Activity

Re: [insert title of assignment]
RFP Ref: [insert reference as shown on cover page]

[Please complete for each phase]

Group of activities by phase Description2
Price3

Currency 1 Currency 2

Total

1. Form FIN-3 shall be completed for the whole assignment. In case some of the
activities require different modes of billing and payment (e.g.: the assignment is
phased, and each phase has a different payment schedule), the consultant shall fill a
separate form FIN-3 for each group of activities. Include base and option years.

2. A short description of the activities whose price breakdown is provided in this form.
3. Provide fully loaded prices (including international travel, communications, local

transportation, office expenses, shipment of personal effects, direct and indirect rates
and profit).

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Form FIN-4. Breakdown of Remuneration

Re: [insert title of assignment]
RFP Ref: [insert reference as shown on cover page]

[Information to be provided in this form shall only be used to establish price reasonableness
and to establish payments to the consultant for possible additional services requested by the
client.]

Name Position Person month fully loaded rate

Foreign Staff Currency 1 Currency 2
Local Staff
Home
Field
Home
Field
Home
Field

Home
Field
Home
Field
Home
Field

1. Form FIN-4 shall be filled in for the same key professional personnel and other
personnel listed in forms TECH-7 and 8.

2. Professional personnel shall be indicated individually; support staff shall be indicated
by category (e.g., draftsmen, clerical staff).

3. Positions of the key professional personnel shall coincide with the ones indicated in
forms TECH-7 and 8.

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Form FIN-5. Breakdown of Reimbursables

Re: [insert title of assignment]
RFP Ref: [insert reference as shown on cover page]

When used for lump-sum contract assignment, information to be provided in this form shall only be used to demonstrate the basis for calculation
of the contract ceiling amount, to calculate applicable taxes at contract negotiations and, if needed, to establish payments to the consultant for
possible additional services requested by the client. This form shall not be used as a basis for payments under lump-sum contracts

B. Reimbursable Expenses

Type of reimbursable Unit {Currency # {Currency # {Additional {Additional currency,
expenses cost as appl.}
N° Unit Quantity 1- as in FIN- 2- as in FIN- currency,

2} 2} as appl.}

{e.g., per diem allowances**} {Day}

{e.g., national flights} {Ticket}
{Trip}
{e.g., in/out airport
transportation}

{e.g., communication costs
between Insert place and Insert
place}

{ e.g., reproduction of reports}

{e.g., office rent}
....................................
{training of the client’s personnel
– if required in TOR}
Total costs

Legend:
“Per diem allowance” is paid for each night the expert is required by the contract to be away from his/her usual place of residence. Client can set
up a ceiling.

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Section VI. Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference for engaging External auditors for the Jharkhand
Tribal Development Society (JTDS)

For the year 2020-21
1. Project Background

The Jharkhand Tribal Development Society (JTDS) is an autonomous agency,
registered under the Societies Registration Act and has its own bye-laws and financial
rules. It is accountable to its General Council and Board of Directors (BOD). The BOD
is chaired by the Secretary, Welfare Department. The JTDS is implementing the
Jharkhand Tribal Empowerment and Livelihoods Project (JTELP). The overall goal of
JTELP is to improve the living conditions of tribal people in general and Primitive Tribal
Groups (PTG) in particular. This is sought to be achieved by “organising and enabling
the communities to adopt sustainable and productive natural resource management
regimes, adopt market-oriented production systems and learn the skills and gain the
experience of planning and implementing development plans relevant to their villages”.
Project Components:

JTELP

Component 1 - Community Empowerment: To reduce dependence on high cost
consumption loans, improve women’s participation in local governance and enhance
access to entitlements.
Component 2 - Integrated Natural Resource Management: To improve productivity
of rain-fed farming, the three sub-components will be: (i) Community Mobilization; (ii)
Land and Water Resources Development; and (iii) Productivity Enhancement and
Crop Diversification.
Component 3 – Livelihood Support: To enhance incomes and minimise distress
migration and youth unemployment, the four sub-components will be: (i) Support for
Income Generating Activities to PTGs and the poorest; (ii) Promoting market-linked
production clusters for vegetable production, mango orchards, tasar silk rearing, lac
rearing and goat rearing; (iii) Vocational training and placement in urban and rural
trades; and (iv) Innovative interventions such as (a) setting up community forests by

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providing Community Pattas; (b) lac rearing on semialata; and (c) PTG habitat
planning.
Component 4 - Project Management: JTELP will be implemented by JTDS, a
Society set up by GoJ. With a State Project Director (SPD) and a State Project
Management Unit (SPMU), the State level organisation will consolidate plans and
budget and manage funds flow, M&E and KM. Each district will have a DPMU within
the Deputy Commissioner’s office to facilitate convergence.
SCA to TSP
Scheme I: Setting up Agro based Micro-Enterprise Unit in JTDS area;
Scheme II: Pig Farming for ensuring livelihood security among the scheduled tribes in
JTDS area;
Scheme III: Livelihood Prototype scheme in JTDS area.
Scheme I, II & III work started in the F.Y. 2012-13 and it’s continued.

ICRISAT Scheme: A small scheme related to promotion of legumes crop i.e.
groundnut, pigeon pea and chick pea along with value addition component, knowledge
management and market linkage.
In ICRISAT no fund in the F.Y. 2020-21 has been received by JTDS.

Flow of Funds: The Government of Jharkhand has received financing from the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in the form of a [“loan”]
(hereinafter called [“loan”] toward the cost of Jharkhand Tribal Empowerment and
Livelihood Project (JTELP) in selected villages of Jharkhand State. Payments by the
IFAD are made only at the request of the Jharkhand Tribal Development Society or
JTDS and upon approval by the IFAD, and are subject, in all respects, to the terms
and conditions of the loan/financing agreement.

Project Coverage: The implementation of the JTELP has been done through fifteen
offices; namely one state office called State Project Management Unit (SPMU)
situated at the state capital Ranchi and fourteen district offices called District Project
Management Units (DPMUs) situated at Sahibganj, Godda, Pakur, Dumka, Jamtara,

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East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Saraikela-Kharsawan, Ranchi, Khunti, Lohardaga,

Latehar, Gumla and Simdega districts of Jharkhand. The ground level implementation

is being done through Gram Sabha Project Implementation Committees (GSPECs)

formed in approx 1,779 villages. The Project outreach is about 211,000 families in

about 1,779 villages in 32 Blocks (sub-districts) in the 14 Tribal Sub-Plan districts.

2. Objective
The objective of this audit is to enable the auditor to express an opinion on whether the
financial statements (including additional disclosures as outlined in section 5) present fairly, in
all material respects, the financial position of the reporting entity as at 31st March 2021,
and/or the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended, in conformity
with the Indian Accounting Standard.

3. Responsibilities of the borrower
i. General

 Provide financial statements for the activities financed by the loan that are reconcilable
to its records and accounts.

 Provide the auditor with access to all legal documents and correspondence with
consultants, contractors and other persons or firms engaged by the project, and any
other information associated with the project and deemed necessary by the auditor.

 Ensure that the accounting policies are consistently applied and disclosed.
 Ensure that appropriate internal controls are implemented to prevent misstatements

and susceptibility to fraud.
 Ensure compliance with all relevant laws and regulations that pertain to the entity, as

well as with the financing agreement between the borrower and IFAD.
 Provide the financial statements to the auditor within a reasonable time and be

available for any queries that the auditor may have.
ii. Financial statements
The borrower shall:

 Prepare financial statements covering the reporting period 1st April 2020 to 31st March
2021, in accordance with [IPSAS “Financial Reporting under the Cash Basis of
Accounting” standards]. In addition, the following specific disclosures will be included
in the financial statements:

 Withdrawal application statement– appendix 1 to the IFAD Handbook on Financial
Reporting and Auditing of IFAD-financed Projects;

 Sources and uses of funds statement – appendix 2 to the IFAD Handbook on Financial
Reporting and Auditing of IFAD-financed Projects;

 Notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting
policies and specification on applied accounting standards.

4. Responsibilities of the auditor

i. Auditing standards
The auditor is responsible for the formulation of an opinion on the financial statements in
accordance with national auditing standards;

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ii. General principles
By agreeing to these terms, the auditor confirms that:

 The firm is independent from the project, its staff and activities, in accordance with
international best practices.

 The firm is not providing consultancy services to the project or preparing its project
financial statements (nor has it done so in the previous two years).

 The auditor is suitably qualified and a member of a professional body affiliated with the
International Federation of Accountants.

 The auditor is able to conduct the audit in line with auditing standards acceptable to
IFAD, pursuant to paragraph 4.1.

 The firm can assign an audit team to the audit that has the necessary competence and
skills.

 The firm has a proven track record in conducting audits of a similar nature and
complexity.

iii. Management letter
The management letter is an integral part of the audit package that documents accounting
and internal control issues identified by the auditors. The management letter should:

 Outline the auditor’s recommendations to improve identified accounting and internal
control issues;

 Include the responses of project management to the identified control issues, and its
proposal to address the issues identified within a specific time period.

 Where applicable, follow up on the issues identified in the previous year's
management letter.

iv. Reporting
The Auditor is required to deliver an audit package that includes:

 The audited financial statements, including additional disclosures as specified;
 An audit opinion on the financial statements, within the scope as outlined;
 A report on factual findings, within the scope of agreed-upon procedures as outlined.

Any ineligible expenditure identified should be clearly mentioned.
 A management letter including the information outlined in paragraph 4.3;

The audit report should provide sufficient detail as to the nature and extent of the

procedures performed by the auditor. The auditor is required to provide the final draft
audit package by no later than 15th August 2021 to allow sufficient time for discussion

and addition of management comments as required. The final audit package is to be
provided to IFAD by no later than 15thSeptember 2021.

Reports are to be delivered in English.

Sl No. Nature of Job F.Y. 2020-21
01
1 Consolidation of Financial Statements 15

2 Audit of Units i.e. SPMU & DPMUs

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Additionally, it is suggested inclusion of:

A. Yearly and cumulative statements of source and application of funds, which

should disclose separately IFAD’s fund, other donor’s fund and beneficiaries’

funds;

B. Yearly and cumulative SoEs by Withdrawal Application and category of

expenditures;

C. A separate annexure which shows reconciliation between the amounts

received by the project and shown as disbursed by IFAD. The auditor will

indicate the procedure used for disbursement and indicate whether the

expenditure is fully documented or uses the summary of expenditure format;

D. Cumulative status of funds by category i.e. IFAD, GoJ, SCA To TSP,

ICRISAT etc;

E. A summary of assets acquired or procured to date with project funds by

category;

F. Disclosure of cash balance, if any;

5. Scope of financial audit
In performing the audit, at a minimum the auditor shall:

 Obtain an understanding of the internal controls related to the financial reporting
process, to identify and assess any weakness in internal control that might result in
misstatements, whether due to fraud or to error;

 Design and conduct audit procedures in response to any weaknesses identified in the
internal controls relating to the financial reporting process, to obtain audit evidence
that the financial statements are fairly presented and free from material misstatements,
in accordance with the applicable accounting framework;

 Verify whether expenditure that was incurred in the name of the project is in line with
the terms of the financing agreement(s) and incurred for the purposes intended in this
agreement. Both IFAD and third party funding should be taken into consideration;

 Verify that the amount of the in-kind contribution is reported according to the agreed
accounting principles and the reported fair-market value for all in-kind contribution;

 items is reasonable and correctly and fully disclosed in the financial statements
 Verify that the inventory and fixed assets held by the entity exist, are complete, are

properly accounted and are used for the project purposes;
 Note any weaknesses in the internal control environment and in the financial reporting

process, and communicate those in the management letter.

6. Scope of the agreed-upon procedures
The auditor is required to perform the following specific procedures and report on factual
findings concerning the Withdrawal application statement. The auditor is requested to

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obtain the individual withdrawal applications (WAs) submitted to IFAD, as summarized in the
withdrawal application statement, and develop test procedures to:

 Determine whether goods and services have been purchased through the SOE
mechanism in line with the stipulated SOE threshold;

 Determine whether the expenditures claimed through SOE procedures were properly
and appropriately authorized, classified and supported by audit documentation; and

 Identify any ineligible expenditure.

7. Public disclosure
IFAD promotes public disclosure of project financial information to enhance the level of
transparency and accountability. IFAD will disclose project audit reports, as appropriate, in
line with the Fund’s disclosure policy. Management Letters issued by auditors are not subject
to public disclosure by IFAD. In agreeing to the terms of reference, the auditor explicitly
acknowledges IFAD’s right to publicly disclose audit reports (audited financial statements and
audit opinion) and will issue reports without a limitation of use clause.
To facilitate the public disclosure process, the auditor is requested to submit two separate
files as follows:
- Audited financial statements and audit opinion; and
- Management Letter.

8. Reporting
The report on this audit should describe the purpose and the agreed procedures of the
engagement in sufficient detail to enable the LPA and IFAD to understand the nature and
extent of the procedures performed by the auditor. Use of financial and audit reporting is
governed by IFAD requirements and the final audit package is to be received by IFAD on or
before 15th September 2021.

9. Deduction of Audit Fees:
If the selected audit firm has not employed audit personnel as per the qualifications
prescribed in this ToR or has not done the audit in accordance with the periodicity prescribed
in this ToR or has delayed the audit reports, the Project reserves the right to deduct
proportionate quantum of amount from the audit fees.

KEY PERSONNEL

The list of key personnel’s required for this assignments;

Sl. Key Description of Services to Experience No. of
persons
No Professionals be provided 1

1 Audit Team Responsibility to lead the Qualified Chartered 2

Leader audit teams in the field, Accountants with at least

planning and execution of 10years post qualification

the audits, discussion with experience with ability to

office bearers of the JTDS, lead the team. Should

consolidation/compilation, have experience of audit

reporting and de-briefing of at least 10 Village level

the SPD. community organizations.

2 Senior Audit Vouching and verification of CA (Inter) with 3 years of

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Asst. (Minimum books of accounts and post qualification
Two Persons other tasks
Required) experience in Accounting,

audit and report writing.

Each of the member

should have knowledge of

the functioning of village

level community

organizations

10. Appendices
Appendix: Financing agreement(s)
Appendix: Letter to the Borrower
Appendix: IFAD Handbook on Financial Reporting and Auditing of IFAD-financed Projects

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Section IX. Revised IFAD Policy on Preventing Fraud and
Corruption in its Activities and Operations

I. Introduction

1. The Fund recognizes that the prevention and mitigation of fraud and corruption in its
activities and operations are core components of its development mandate and
fiduciary duties. The Fund does not tolerate the diversion or waste of its resources
through the practices defined in paragraph 6 below.

2. The objective of this policy is to establish the general principles, responsibilities and
procedures to be applied by the Fund in preventing and addressing prohibited
practices in its activities and operations.

3. This policy takes effect on the date of its issuance. It supersedes and replaces the
IFAD Policy on Preventing Fraud and Corruption in its Activities and Operations (EB
2005/85/R.5/Rev.1) dated 24 November 2005.

II. Policy

A. General principles

4. The Fund has no tolerance towards prohibited practices in its activities and operations.
All individuals and entities listed in paragraph 7 below must take appropriate action to
prevent, mitigate and combat prohibited practices when participating in an IFAD-
financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or activity.

5. The Fund endeavours to ensure that individuals and entities that help to prevent or
report, in good faith, allegations of prohibited practices are protected against retaliation
and to protect individuals and entities that are the subject of unfair or malicious
allegations.

B. Prohibited practices

6. The following practices are considered to be prohibited practices when engaged in
connection with an IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or activity:

(a) A “corrupt practice” is the offering, giving, receiving or soliciting, directly or
indirectly, of anything of value in order to improperly influence the actions of
another party;

(b) A “fraudulent practice” is any act or omission, including a misrepresentation, that
knowingly or recklessly misleads, or attempts to mislead, a party in order to obtain
a financial or other benefit or to avoid an obligation;

(c) A “collusive practice” is an arrangement between two or more parties designed to
achieve an improper purpose, including improperly influencing the actions of
another party;

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(d) A “coercive practice” is impairing or harming, or threatening to impair or harm,
directly or indirectly, any party or the property of the party in order to improperly
influence the actions of that or another party;

(e) An “obstructive practice” is: (i) deliberately destroying, falsifying, altering or
concealing evidence that may be material to an investigation by the Fund or
making false statements to investigators in order to materially impede an
investigation by the Fund; (ii) threatening, harassing or intimidating any party in
order to prevent that party from disclosing its knowledge of matters relevant to an
investigation by the Fund or from pursuing such an investigation; and/or (iii) the
commission of any act intended to materially impede the exercise of the Fund’s
contractual rights of audit, inspection and access to information.

C. Scope

7. This policy applies to all IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operations and
activities and to the following individuals and entities:

(a) IFAD staff and other persons working for IFAD as non-staff personnel (“IFAD

(b) staff and non-staff personnel”);

(c) Individuals and entities holding a commercial contract with the Fund and any of
their agents or personnel (“vendors”);

(d) Public entities receiving IFAD financing or financing managed by the Fund and any
of their agents or personnel (“government recipients”) and private entities receiving
IFAD financing or financing managed by the Fund and any of their agents or
personnel (“non-government recipients”) (all collectively referred to as
“recipients”); and

(e) Individuals and entities, other than those referred to above, that receive, apply to
receive, are responsible for the deposit or transfer of, or take or influence
decisions regarding the use of proceeds from IFAD financing or financing
managed by the Fund, including, but not limited to, implementing partners, service
providers, contractors, suppliers, subcontractors, sub- suppliers, bidders,
consultants and any of their agents or personnel. (All such individuals and entities
are collectively referred to as “third parties”.)

D. Responsibilities

(i) Responsibilities of the Fund

8. The Fund endeavours to prevent, mitigate and combat prohibited practices in its
operations and activities. This may include adopting and maintaining:

(a) Communication channels and a legal framework designed to ensure that this
policy is communicated to IFAD staff and non-staff personnel, vendors, recipients
and third parties and that it is reflected in procurement documents and contracts
relating to IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed activities and operations;

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(b) Fiduciary controls and supervisory processes designed to support adherence to
this policy by IFAD staff and non-staff personnel, vendors, recipients and third
parties;

(c) Measures relating to the receipt of confidential complaints, whistle-blower
protection, investigations, sanctions and disciplinary measures which are designed
to ensure that prohibited practices can be properly reported and addressed; and

(d) Measures designed to ensure that the Fund can report individuals and entities that
have been found to have engaged in prohibited practices to other multilateral
organizations which may be exposed to similar actions by the same individuals
and entities and to local authorities in cases where local laws may have been
violated.

(ii) Responsibilities of IFAD staff and non-staff personnel, vendors and third parties

9. When participating in an IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or activity,
IFAD staff and non-staff personnel, vendors and third parties will:

(a) Refrain from engaging in prohibited practices;

(b) Participate in due diligence checks and disclose, as required, information relating to
themselves or any of their key personnel concerning relevant criminal convictions,
administrative sanctions and/or temporary suspensions; information concerning
agents engaged in connection with a procurement process or contract, including the
commissions or fees paid or to be paid; and information concerning any actual or
potential conflicts of interest in connection with a procurement process or the
execution of a contract;

(c) Promptly report to the Fund any allegations or other indications of prohibited
practices that come to their attention by virtue of their involvement in an IFAD-
financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or activity;

(d) Fully cooperate with any investigation conducted by the Fund, including by making
personnel available for interviews and providing full access to any and all accounts,
premises, documents and records (including electronic records) relating to the
relevant IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or activity, and by having
such accounts, premises, documents and records audited and/or inspected by
auditors and/or investigators appointed by the Fund; and

(e) Maintain strict confidentiality regarding any and all information received as a
consequence of their participation in an IFAD investigation or sanctioning process.

10. When participating in an IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or activity,
vendors and third parties will maintain all accounts, documents and records relating to
that operation or activity for an adequate period of time, as specified in the relevant
procurement documents or contract.

(iii) Responsibilities of recipients

11. When participating in an IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or activity,
recipients will take appropriate action to prevent, mitigate and combat prohibited
practices. In particular, they will:

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(a) Adopt appropriate fiduciary and administrative practices and institutional
arrangements in order to ensure that the proceeds of any IFAD financing or
financing managed by the Fund are used only for the purposes for which they
were provided;

(b) During selection processes and/or prior to entering into a contractual relationship
with a third party, conduct appropriate due diligence checks of the selected bidder
or potential contractor, including by verifying whether the selected bidder or
potential contractor is publicly debarred by any of the IFIs that are signatories to
the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions6 and, if so,
whether the debarment meets the requirements for mutual recognition under the
Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions;

(c) Take appropriate action to inform third parties and beneficiaries (defined as
“persons whom the Fund intends to serve through its grants and loans”) of the
present policy as well as the Fund’s confidential and secure e-mail address for the
receipt of complaints concerning prohibited practices;

(d) Include provisions in procurement documents and contracts with third parties
which:

(i) Require third parties to disclose, in the course of a procurement process
and any time thereafter, information relating to themselves or any of their
key personnel concerning relevant criminal convictions, administrative
sanctions and/or temporary suspensions; information concerning agents
engaged in connection with a procurement process or the execution of a
contract, including the commissions or fees paid or to be paid; and
information concerning any actual or potential conflicts of interest in
connection with a procurement process or the execution of a contract;

(ii) Require third parties to promptly report to the Fund any allegations or other
indications of prohibited practices that come to their attention by virtue of
their involvement in an IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or
activity;

(iii) Inform third parties of the Fund’s jurisdiction to investigate allegations and
other indications of prohibited practices and to impose sanctions on third
parties for such practices in connection with an IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-
managed operation or activity;

(iv) Require third parties to fully cooperate with any investigation conducted by
the Fund, including by making personnel available for interviews and by
providing full access to any and all accounts, premises, documents and
records (including electronic records) relating to the relevant IFAD- financed
and/or IFAD-managed operation or activity and to have such accounts,
premises, records and documents audited and/or inspected

(v) by auditors and/or investigators appointed by the Fund;

6The Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions, dated 9 April 2010, was signed by five of the
leading IFIs, namely, the African Development Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank Group.

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(vi) Require third parties to maintain all accounts, documents and records
relating to an IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or activity for
an adequate period of time as agreed with the Fund;

(vii) Inform third parties of the Fund’s policy of unilaterally recognizing
debarments imposed by other IFIs if such debarments meet the
requirements for mutual recognition under the Agreement for Mutual
Enforcement of Debarment Decisions; and

(viii) Provide for early contract termination or suspension by the recipient if such
termination or suspension is required as a consequence of a temporary
suspension or sanction imposed or recognized by the Fund;

(e) Promptly inform the Fund of any allegations or other indications of Prohibited
Practices that come to their attention;

(f) Fully cooperate with any investigation conducted by the Fund, including by making
personnel available for interviews and by providing full access to any and all
accounts, premises, documents and records (including electronic records) relating
to the relevant IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or activity and to
have such accounts, premises, documents and records audited and/or inspected
by auditors and/or investigators appointed by the Fund;

(g) Maintain all accounts, documents and records relating to an IFAD-financed and/or
IFAD-managed operation or activity for an adequate period of time, as specified in
the relevant financing agreement; and

(h) Maintain strict confidentiality regarding any and all information received as a
consequence of their participation in an IFAD investigation or sanctioning process.

12. Where the Fund finds that prohibited practices have occurred, recipients will: (a) Take
appropriate corrective measures in coordination with the Fund; and (b) Give full effect
to any temporary suspension or sanction imposed or recognized by the Fund, including
by not selecting a bidder, not entering into a contract or suspending or terminating a
contractual relationship.

13. Prior to the implementation of an IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or
activity, government recipients will inform the Fund of the arrangements that they have
made for receiving and taking action in response to allegations of fraud and corruption
relating to the IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or activity, including by
designating an independent and competent local authority to be responsible for
receiving, reviewing and investigating such allegations.

14. When participating in an IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or activity,
government recipients will, in consultation with the Fund, take timely and appropriate
action to launch a local investigation into allegations and/or other indications of fraud
and corruption relating to the IFAD-financed and/or IFAD- managed operation or
activity; inform the Fund of the actions taken in any such investigation at such intervals
as may be agreed upon by the recipient and the Fund on a case-by-case basis; and,
upon the completion of such investigation, promptly share the findings and results
thereof, including the supporting evidence, with the Fund. Government recipients will

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work with the Fund to coordinate any actions other than investigations that they may
wish to undertake in response to an alleged or otherwise indicated prohibited practice.

15. Government recipients are encouraged to have in place, in accordance with their laws
and regulations, effective whistle-blower protection measures and confidential reporting
channels in order to appropriately receive and address allegations of fraud and
corruption relating to IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operations and activities.

E. Process

(i) Reporting

16. A designated confidential and secure e-mail address for the receipt of allegations of
prohibited practices is available on the Fund’s website.

17. In the event of uncertainty as to whether or not an act or omission constitutes a
prohibited practice, the designated confidential and secure e-mail address may be
used to seek guidance.

18. The Fund treats all reported allegations with strict confidentiality. This means that the
Fund does not normally reveal the identity of a reporting party to anybody outside of
the investigative, sanctioning or disciplinary process without the consent of the
reporting party.

19. The Fund endeavours to provide protection from retaliation to any individuals or entities
that have helped prevent or have reported to the Fund, in good faith, allegations or
other indications of prohibited practices. IFAD staff and non-staff personnel are
protected from retaliation under the Fund’s Whistle-blower Protection Procedures.

(ii) Investigations

20. Where the Fund has reason to believe that prohibited practices may have occurred, the
Fund may decide to review and investigate the matter, irrespective of any investigative
actions launched or planned by the recipient.

21. The purpose of an investigation conducted by the Fund is to determine whether an
individual or entity has engaged in one or more prohibited practices in connection with
an IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operation or activity.

22. Reviews and investigations conducted by the Fund are, inter alia:

(a) Strictly confidential, meaning that the Fund does not disclose to anyone outside of
the investigative, sanctioning or disciplinary process any evidence or information
relating to the review or investigation, including the outcome of a review or
investigation, unless such disclosure is allowed under the Fund’s legal framework;

(b) Independent, meaning that no authority is allowed to interfere with an ongoing
review or investigation or to otherwise intervene in, influence or stop such a review
or investigation; and

(c) Administrative, as opposed to criminal, in nature, meaning that reviews and
investigations conducted by the Fund are governed by the Fund’s rules and
procedures, not by local laws.

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23. The office within the Fund that is mandated to conduct reviews and investigations into
alleged or otherwise indicated prohibited practices is the Office of Audit and Oversight
(AUO). Without prejudice to paragraphs 9(d) and 11(f), AUO may agree not to disclose
to anybody outside of AUO any evidence or information that it has obtained on the
condition that such evidence or information may be used solely for the purpose of
generating new evidence or information, unless the provider of the evidence or
information consents.

F. Sanctions and related measures

(i) Temporary suspensions

24. During the course of an IFAD review or investigation, or pending the conclusion of a
sanctioning process, the Fund may decide, at any time, to temporarily suspend
payments to IFAD non-staff personnel, non-government recipients, vendors or third
parties or to temporarily suspend their eligibility to participate in IFAD- financed and/or
IFAD-managed operations and activities for an initial period of six (6) months, subject
to a possible extension of that suspension for an additional six (6) months.

25. IFAD staff may be temporarily suspended from their duties in accordance with the
applicable human resources framework.

(ii) Sanctions

26. If the Fund determines that IFAD non-staff personnel, non-government recipients,
vendors or third parties have engaged in prohibited practices, the Fund may impose
administrative sanctions on such individuals or entities.

27. Sanctions are imposed on the basis of: (i) the findings and evidence presented by
AUO, including mitigating and exculpatory evidence; and (ii) any evidence or
arguments submitted by the subject of the investigation in response to the findings
presented by AUO.

28. The Fund may apply any of the following sanctions or a combination thereof:

(a) Debarment, which is defined as declaring an individual or entity ineligible, either
indefinitely or for a stated period of time, to: (i) be awarded any IFAD- financed
contract; (ii) benefit, financially or otherwise, from any IFAD- financed contract,
including by being engaged as a subcontractor; and (iii) otherwise participate in
the preparation or implementation of any IFAD- financed and/or IFAD-managed
operation or activity;

(b) Debarment with conditional release, which is defined as a debarment that is
terminated upon compliance with conditions set forth in the sanction decision;

(c) Conditional non-debarment, which is defined as requiring an individual or entity to
comply with certain remedial, preventive or other measures as a condition for non-
debarment on the understanding that a failure to comply with such measures
within a prescribed period of time will result in an automatic debarment under the
terms provided for in the sanction decision;

(d) Restitution, which is defined as a payment to another party or the Fund (with
respect to the Fund’s resources) of an amount equivalent to the amount of the

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diverted funds or the economic benefit obtained as a result of having engaged in a
prohibited practice; and

(e) Letter of reprimand, which is defined as a formal letter of censure for the actions of
an individual or entity which informs that individual or entity that any future
violation will lead to more severe sanctions.

29. The Fund may extend the application of a sanction to any affiliate of a sanctioned party
even if the affiliate has not been directly involved in the prohibited practice. An affiliate
is defined as any individual or entity that is: (i) directly or indirectly controlled by the
sanctioned party; (ii) under common ownership or control with the sanctioned party; or
(iii) acting as an officer, employee or agent of the sanctioned party, including owners of
the sanctioned party and/or those who exercise control over the sanctioned party.

30. For the purposes of IFAD-financed and/or IFAD-managed operations and activities, the
Fund may consider as debarred individuals and entities that have been debarred by
another IFI where: (i) that IFI is a signatory to the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of
Debarment Decisions; and (ii) such debarment meets the requirements for mutual
recognition under the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions.7

(iii) Disciplinary measures

31. If the Fund finds that IFAD staff have engaged in prohibited practices, the Fund may
apply disciplinary measures and may require restitution or other compensation in
accordance with the applicable human resources framework.

G. Referrals and information-sharing

32. The Fund may, at any time, refer information or evidence relating to an ongoing or
completed investigative, sanctioning or disciplinary process to the local authorities of a
Member State. In determining whether such a referral is appropriate, the Fund takes
into consideration the interests of the Fund, the affected Member States, the individuals
or entities under investigation and any other persons, such as witnesses, who are
involved in the case.

33. If the Fund obtains information or evidence indicating potential wrongdoing in
connection with the operations and/or activities of another multilateral organization, the
Fund may make such information or evidence available to the other organization for the
purposes of its own investigative, sanctioning or disciplinary processes.

34. In order to facilitate and regulate the confidential exchange of information and evidence
with local authorities and multilateral organizations, the Fund seeks to conclude
agreements which establish the rules for such an exchange.

H. Operational responses to Prohibited Practices

(i) Rejection of an award of contract

7The Fund may, in the future, decide to also recognize debarments imposed by entities that are not signatories
to the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions.

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35. The Fund may refuse to give its no-objection to the award of a contract to a third party
if it determines that the third party, or any of its personnel, agents, sub-consultants,
subcontractors, service providers, suppliers and/or their employees, engaged in a
prohibited practice while competing for the contract in question.

(ii) Declaration of mis-procurement and/or ineligibility of expenditures

36. The Fund may, at any time, declare a mis-procurement and/or the ineligibility of any
expenditures associated with a procurement process or contract if it determines that a
third party or a representative of the recipient has engaged in a prohibited practice in
connection with the procurement process or contract at issue and that the recipient has
not taken timely and appropriate action, satisfactory to the Fund, to address such
practices when they occur.

(iii) Suspension or cancellation of loan or grant

If the Fund determines that a recipient has not taken timely and appropriate action,
satisfactory to the Fund, to address prohibited practices when they occur, the Fund may
suspend or cancel, in whole or in part, the loan or grant affected by such practices.

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