Request For Proposal (RFP) / E-Tender For Appointment Of Firm Of Chartered Accountants For
Certification Of Investment Risk Management Systems & Process (IRMSP) by General Insurance Corporation of India
General Insurance Corporation of India
Suraksha, 170, J. Tata Road,
Churchgate, Mumbai – 400 020.
Phone -> +9122 22867730
E-mail -> auditteam@gicofindia.com
Tender Ref: IAD/2018-19/002
Date of Issue: July 30, 2018
Submit before: August 28, 2018; 05:30 PM
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR APPOINTMENT OF FIRM OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS FOR CERTIFICATION OF INVESTMENT RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS & PROCESS (IRMSP)
LETTER OF INVITATION
General Insurance Corporation of India, GIC Re (A Govt. Of India Undertaking) invites applications from Chartered Accountant firms, for Certification of Investment Risk Management Systems & Process, as per the ‘Technical Guide on review and certification of Investment Risk Management Systems & Process of Insurance Companies’ issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in consultation with IRDA. The Scope of Audit is as per Annexure – 3.
TIMELINE
The following shall be the time schedule for completion of the bidding process
| Sr. No. | Event | Schedule, Date / Time |
| 1. | Date of issue of RFP | July 30, 2018 |
| 2. | Last Date for submission of queries*/ request for clarification from bidders through email.
(No queries will be accepted on telephone or through any means other than e-mail.) |
August 13, 2018 |
| 3. | Uploading of Clarification/Amendment/Modification to E-Tender Document. | To be displayed on website. |
| 4. | Last date of Bid submission | 17:30 Hrs. August 28, 2018 |
| 5. | Date of Opening of Financial Bid | To be displayed on website. |
| 6. | Result of Financial (Price) Bid of Qualified Bidder | To be displayed on website. |
*Queries are to be submitted at E-mail: auditteam@gicofindia.com Clarifications on queries will be uploaded on the GIC Re website http://www.gicofindia.com after last date of receipt of queries.
Detailed RFP (non-transferable) covering eligibility requirements, technical specifications and terms & conditions may be obtained by downloading from the GIC Re website i.e. www.gicofindia.com, from July 30, 2018. Tender document is also available on GIC Re’s e-procurement website with link as https://gicre.eproc.in/
ELIGIBILITY AND MANDATORY PRE-QUALIFICATION CRITERIA.
1. The Chartered Accountant firm shall be a Firm, registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
2. The Audit Firm should have an experience of at least four years, in conducting reviews of Risk Management Systems and Process of either Banks or Mutual Funds or Insurance Companies or have, on behalf of IRDA conducted Investment Inspection of Insurance Companies.
3. On the date of appointment as an Auditor for certifying Investment Risk Management Systems and Process, the Auditor must not hold more than two audits of Internal, Concurrent and Risk Management Systems Audit, all taken together. Hence, the Audit firm, can at the maximum hold not more than three Audits (i.e., Investment Risk Management Systems and Process Audit, Internal Audit, Concurrent Audit – all taken together), apart from Statutory Audits at any point of time. For this purpose, at the time of appointment, GIC Re shall obtain a declaration to this effect from the firm of Chartered Accountants. GIC Re shall file with IRDA, the confirmation obtained from the Chartered Accountant firm, within 7 days of such
4. The Firm should not have been prohibited/debarred/blacklisted by any regulating Authority/Agency including IRDA, RBI, SEBI, ICAI, C&AG etc.
5. The Auditor appointed for certifying the Investment Risk Management Systems and Process should not have conducted the following assignments for GIC Re, for a period of two years immediately preceding this appointment:
- Statutory Audit
- Any Internal Audit
- Any Concurrent Audit
- Any Consulting assignment, whether or not related to Audit Functions and Reviews or Certification of Investment Risk Management Systems and Processes.
6. Any partner/employee of the firm must have DISA (Diploma in Information System Audit) qualification.
7. The firm should be Category I as per RBI Guidelines valid for current/previous financial year e. FY 2018-19/FY 2017-18, as the case may be.
8. The firm should be empaneled by CAG for current/previous Financial Year i.e. FY 2018-19/FY 2017-18, as the case may be.
9. Firm should be specialized in the work of Internal Audit and the turnover from the audit function during the last financial year i.e. FY 2017-18 should not be less than ₹ 5.00 Crores.
10. The firm must have their Branch / Office in Mumbai from where the firm should operate.
11. The Firm should be adept in compliance of Indian laws. They should be well versed with compliance of all relevant guidelines of IRDA, CAG and other regulations applicable to Insurance industry.
12. The Firm should not be owned by any of the relatives of the GIC Re Officials. Also, none of the officials of GIC Re should have vested interest in the Applicant Firm.
13. The Firm or its partners should not possess any place of profit in GIC Re.
14. The firm/partner/director should not have any place of profit with Investment Intermediaries of GIC Re.
15. The CA firm will carry out the Audit according to the Guidance Notes issued from time to time by IRDA and Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for effective Audit.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1. The Corporation reserves the right to reject any or all offers without assigning any reason. The Corporation may decide to not to avail of any services from any bidder as a consequence of this tender. The corporation also reserves the right to re-issue or re-commence the entire bid process without the applicants having the right to object. Any decision of the Corporation in this regard shall be final, conclusive and binding on the Bidders.
2. RIGHT TO REJECT BIDS.
The Bidders are advised to submit the e-Tenders strictly based on the terms and conditions and specifications contained in the RFP including amendments, if any, issued by GIC Re prior to submission of e-Tenders. The formats prescribed in the RFP should be scrupulously followed by the Bidders. E-Tender that do not comply with the terms and conditions are liable for rejection.
GIC Re reserves the absolute and unconditional right to reject any response to this E-Tender if it is not in accordance with its requirements and no correspondence will be entertained by GIC Re in the matter.
The bid is liable to be rejected if:
- It is not in conformity with the requirements/instructions mentioned in this Tender
- It is not properly/duly signed and stamped.
- It is received after expiry of the due date and time.
- It is incomplete including non-furnishing of the required documents / information as required in terms of this Tender.
- It is evasive or contains incorrect information.
- There is canvassing of any kind.
- Bid having Conflict of Interest.
(A bidder may be considered in a conflict of interest with one or more bidders in the same bidding process under this RFP if they have a relationship with each other, directly or indirectly, through a common firm, that puts them in a position to have access to information or influence the Bid of another bidder.)
- Bidder delays in submission of additional information or clarifications sought by GIC
3. The Firms will be qualified based on assessment as per Technical Bids. The Financial Bids of those technically qualified firms only will be opened.
4. Technical Bid and Financial Bid is to be signed by Authorized Partner/Signatory on each page of tender document. Please refer to the proforma of the Authorized signatory at Annexure – 6.
5. It is construed that the bidder has read all the terms and conditions before submitting his/her bid.
6. A Bidder shall submit only one proposal/bid, either individually or as a joint venture in another proposal/bid. If a Bidder including a joint venture partner submits or participates in another proposal/bid, all such proposals/bids shall be disqualified.
7. Any billing linked to GIC Re’s Assets and/or Revenue will disqualify the bidder.
8. CLARIFICATIONS AND AMENDMENTS TO TENDER DOCUMENT
Prospective bidders may seek clarification on the Tender document by email till the date and time mentioned in the “Timeline”.
It may be noted that all queries, clarifications, questions etc., relating to this Tender Document, technical or otherwise, must be in writing only and should be addressed to the nominated point of contact as mentioned below:
Internal Audit Department
auditteam@gicofindia.com
GIC Re may, for any reason, whether at its own initiative or in response to clarification(s) sought from prospective bidders, modify the Tender document contents by amendment /corrigendum. Clarification / Corrigendum /Amendment, if any, will be notified in the websites. No individual communication would be made in this respect.
9. CANCELLATION OF TENDER PROCESS
GIC Re reserves the right to cancel the tender process partly or fully at its sole discretion at any stage without assigning any reason to any of the participating bidders.
10. ADHERENCE TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The Bidders who wish to submit responses to this Tender should note that they should abide (in true intent and spirit) by all the terms and conditions contained in the Tender. If the responses contain any extraneous conditions put in by the bidders, such proposals may be disqualified and may not be considered for the selection process.
11. EXECUTION OF PRINCIPAL AGREEMENT AND NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT
The selected Bidder will be required to execute (a) Principal Agreement (PA) (Annexure – 4), which must include all the services and terms and conditions of the services to be extended as detailed herein and as may be prescribed or recommended by GIC Re and (b) Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA) (Annexure – 5). The selected Bidder will be required to execute the PA and NDA on completion of the required processes as outlined herein.
12. ADHERENCE TO STANDARDS/COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS
The selected Bidder should adhere and comply with all the applicable laws of land and rules, regulations and guidelines prescribed by various regulatory, statutory and Government authorities of India. The selected Bidder shall also adhere to the professional standards as prescribed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
13. ASSIGNMENT
Neither the contract nor any rights granted under the contract can be sold, leased, assigned, or otherwise transferred, in whole or in part, by the selected Bidder. The selected Bidder shall not subcontract or permit anyone other than its personnel to perform any of the work, service or other performance required of the selected Bidder under the contract. Formation of consortium or association of Audit firm and engaging sub consultants is not allowed and such proposals will be disqualified at the evaluation stage itself.
14. PERIOD OF CONTRACT
The firm who is declared L–1 on the basis of Financial Bid shall provide ONE-time service as defined in “Annexure – 3: Scope of Work” to GIC.
15. OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES
The Travelling Expenses, Lodging and Boarding and all related expenses of the Audit Team to be borne by the CA Firm. No extra payment will be admissible other than Audit fees quoted by the Firm.
16. AUDIT SCOPE & REQUIREMENTS
- Audit is to be conducted at Mumbai Corporate Office. The entire audit work is to be carried out by the CA firm at our Head office at the following addresses.
GIC Re
1. “Suraksha Building”
170, J. Tata Road, Churchgate, Mumbai – 400 020.
GIC Re
2. “ORIENTAL HOUSE”, 1st Floor
7, J. Tata Road, Churchgate, Mum bai – 400 020.
- Technical requirement and scope of audit is as per Annexure – 3.
- It is compulsory for firm to depute at least one qualified Chartered Accountant having DISA qualification for auditing and the size of audit team may be decided by the CA firm commensurate with scope & other requirement.
- The time line for submission of report will be within 15 days of completion of audit.
17. PAYMENT OF AUDIT FEES:
The Audit Fees shall be payable on satisfactory completion of audit and submission of final audit report.
18. TERMINATION:
The Contract of Appointment of the Audit Firm may be terminated, in case it is found at later stage that the audit firm does not comply with eligibility requirements.
19. GOOD FAITH STATEMENT
All information provided by GIC Re in this RFP is offered in good faith. Individual items are subject to change at any time. GIC Re makes no certification that any item is without error. GIC Re is not responsible or liable for any resulting claims by use of this information.
20. PERFORMANCE BANK GUARANTEE (PBG)
The successful Bidder shall at its own expense provide a Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) to GIC Re at the rate of 10% of the total Financial Bid Value for performance guarantee within 7 days from the receipt of notification of award of the contract from GIC Re, which shall be an unconditional, irrevocable and continuing Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) from a nationalized bank acceptable to GIC Re, payable on demand, for the due performance and fulfillment of this Agreement. PBG should be submitted in the format given in Annexure – 9. GIC Re reserves the right to amend! modify! delete all or any of the terms set out in the draft PBG.
21. VALIDITY OF E-TENDERS
Bids should be valid for acceptance for a minimum period of at least 90 (Ninety) days from the date of opening of e tender. The validity may be extended by mutual consent. E – Tenders with lesser validity period would be rejected.
22. The e tenders and all supporting documentation submitted by the bidder as part of the RFP response shall become the property of GIC Re.
23. GIC Re will not be held responsible for any technical snag or network failure during on-line
24. It is the bidder’s responsibility to comply with the system requirement i.e. hardware, software and internet connectivity at bidder’s premises to access the e-tender website.
25. GIC Re shall not be liable to the bidders for any direct / indirect loss or damages incurred by them arising out of incorrect use of the e-tender system or internet connectivity failures under any circumstances.
26. COMMUNICATION
Verbal communication shall not be effective unless formally confirmed in writing by GIC Re. In no case shall verbal communication govern over written communication.
Formal Communications shall include, but are not limited to:
a. Questions concerning this RFP: Questions must be submitted in writing via the email address provided
b. Errors and omissions in this RFP and enhancements: Bidders shall bring to GIC Re any discrepancies, errors, or omissions that may exist within this Tender. With respect to this RFP, Bidders can recommend to GIC Re any enhancements that might be in the best interests of GIC Re. These recommendations must be submitted via e-mail and be received by August 13, 2018.
GIC Re will make a good-faith effort to provide a written response to each question or request for clarification. Written responses will be uploaded on GIC Re Website.
27. BIDDER’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE RFP
In responding to this RFP, the Bidder accepts the full responsibility to understand the RFP in its entirety, and in detail, including making any inquiries to GIC Re as necessary to gain such understanding. GIC Re reserves the right to disqualify any Bidder who demonstrates less than such understanding. Further, GIC Re reserves the right to determine, at its sole discretion, whether the Bidder has demonstrated such understanding. That right extends to cancellation of contract/award if it has been made. Such disqualification and/or cancellation shall be at no fault, cost, or liability whatsoever to GIC Re.
