A. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
SBI Life is a joint venture between the State Bank of India and BNP Paribas Assurance of France. SBI Life is registered with an authorised capital of Rs. 2000 crore and a paid up capital of Rs. 1000 crore. State Bank of India owns 74% of the total capital and BNP Paribas Assurance, the remaining 26%.
B. OBJECTIVE
SBI Life (“the Company”) seeks to invite proposals from interested parties for conducting the audit of corporate agents of the Company. The work involves carrying out on site/ off site inspection based on the defined checklist provided by the Company. This request for proposal is an invitation to the Chartered Accountant Firms who have substantial experience in carrying out inspection of Insurance Companies. The expected number of corporate agents (including banks who are corporate agents) is around 140 spread across the country.
C. SCOPE
The scope of audit is enumerated below:
- The scope of audit will be largely based on circular no IRDA/CAGTS/CIR/LCE/093/06/2010 dated 07th June 2010 issued by IRDA and any further directives issued by the IRDA in this behalf from time to time. Further, the Company may also form its guidelines for Audit.
- The duration of the audit may be 2 to 4 days depending on the volume of transactions entered into by the Corporate Agents and also taking into account the requirements of SBI Life,
- The audit would include visits to the corporate office of the Corporate Agent and may require visits to the sales offices and other associated offices of the Corporate Agent. The scope of audit will be primarily as per the requirements of the Directives the IRDA as issued from time to time and the checklist will be provided by the Company,
- It would also include any other areas as may be intimated by the Company from time to time,
- The audit will also require verification of books of accounts of the corporate agents and should be completed within the allotted time,
- The audit process may include data analysis as per our requirements based on the data provided by the Company/ Corporate agent,
- Audit findings/ observations would be discussed with the concerned authority at the Head Office of the Corporate Agent,
- The report and certification will be prepared in prescribed format and submitted to SBI Life within 5 working days from the date of conclusion of the audit.
D. ELIGIBILITY
The eligibility criteria is as under:
- The applicant should be CA firms,
- Prior experience in handling audit of other Insurance companies in India will be preferred,
- Adequate and trained manpower with technical knowledge and Insurance audit background for conducting audit exercise,
- Should have adequate knowledge and understanding of Insurance Act 1938, IRDA Act 1999 and circulars and guidelines as issued by IRDA from time to time.
E. RESPONSE TO RFP
The interested participants should submit their proposals in response to this RFP. The proposals should contain the following information:
- Brief overview of the Firm,
- Management Structure including composition,
- Details of relevant experience in conducting audit of companies with specific emphasis on audits of Insurance companies,
- Names, designation and details of authorised contact person/ signatory,
- Presence of the Firm in various parts of the Country for carrying out audit,
- Estimated cost of carrying out the audit with necessary justification.
The proposals to be submitted to:
Ms Vaibhavi Ginde,
Senior Manager, Inspection & Audit,
284, Hitkari House,
Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg
Fort, Mumbai-400 001
The proposals should be submitted on or before 8th July, 2010.
SBI Life shall not be responsible for proposals not received within the specified date.
SBI Life reserves the right to accept or reject any or all the proposals without assigning any reasons thereof and the Company’s decision in this respect shall be final and binding. SBI Life also reserves the right to withdraw the RFP process at any stage without assigning any reason thereof.
F. EVALUATION CRITERIA
The selection of the Firm pursuant to this RFP will be based on the details provided in the proposal. Due consideration will be given to the experience of the applicant, quality of resources employed, record of previous similar assignments.
SBI Life reserves the right to negotiate/ re – negotiate price/ cost proposed to its satisfaction.
G. DURATION OF CONTRACT & EXIT
Duration of the contract will be communicated to the successful applicant at the time of selection.
Upon selection the successful applicant shall be required to sign d an appointment letter, defining the terms and conditions of the assignment. The validity of such appointment will be at the sole discretion of the Company.
H. EMPANELMENT OF SERVICE PROVIDERS
SBI Life reserves the right to empanel more than one firm for conducting the proposed audit work. It also reserves the right to distribute the work among more than one applicant.
I. CONFIDENTIALITY AND NON DISCLOSURE
The service provider will be required to submit confidentiality cum non disclosure undertaking duly stamped and notarised to SBI Life.
J. RIGHT TO VERIFICATION
SBI Life reserves the right to verify any or all the statements made by the applicants in the proposal document. It also reserves the right to inspect the office of the applicant. SBI Life also reserves the right to review the audit work carried out by the selected Firm.
K. INDEMNITY
The Firm shall indemnify SBI Life and keep indemnified against any loss or damage that SBI Life may sustain on account of any violation of confidentiality, privacy, etc. by the Firm in respect of any property, practices, hardware, software, systems, processes, technologies etc. in whatever manner described.
L. SBI Life reserves the right to call for fresh RFPs if necessary. It also reserves the right to shelve the project any time even after the receipt of the RFPs. No correspondence in this regard shall be entertained by the SBI Life.
M. The mere submission of the RFPs does not give the bidding firms any claim or right whatsoever against SBI Life.
