Everything you need to know about the GeM portal

Government e-Marketplace, shortly known as GeM, is a digital platform that enables buying and selling of goods and services. GeM portal is a paperless; contactless and cashless online marketplace.  

The sole purpose of GeM is to enhance efficiency; transparency and speed in public procurement. In nut-shell, government departments/ agencies, being a registered buyer, procure goods and services from the registered seller via the GeM portal.

The current article briefly covers the history and statistics of the GeM portal; the objective of the GeM portal; the benefits of the GeM portal to buyers and sellers; the registration process for both buyers as well as sellers and the details of caution money payment by the sellers. 

History and statistics of the GeM portal-

GeM portal is an online platform for public procurement in India. The portal was launched on 9^th August 2016 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Interestingly, the GeM portal was created in a record time of five months.

Notably, the initial version of the GeM portal was hosted and developed by the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. However, the present GeM portal is developed and managed by the Managed Service Provider (i.e., MSP).

Statistically, as of 31^st August 2021, the GeM portal had 25,98,510 sellers and service providers. Further, it had about 16,409 product categories summing up to about 52 Lakhs products. Talking about service categories, the GeM portal had 193 service categories.

Objective of the GeM portal-

The major objectives of the GeM portal are summarized hereunder-

1. To increase efficiency, transparency and speed in public procurement.

2. To provide multiple modes of procurement like direct purchase; bidding with reverse e-auction; e-bidding and direct reverse auction.

3. To make ministries/ government departments to mandatorily procure goods and services from the portal.

4. To enable efficient price discovery; economies of scale and dissemination of best practices.

Benefits of the GeM portal-

GeM portal provides the following benefits to the buyers of goods or services-

1. A higher range of product varieties is available on the portal which enhances the customers choice.

2. Transparency of price and listing of various products for individual categories of goods as well as services.

3. Price comparison of multiple suppliers.

4. User-friendly dashboard for buying; monitoring supplies as well as payment.

5. Easy search, select compare and buy the facility.

6. Facilitates an easy return policy.

7. Allows multiple consignee selection for services.

GeM portal provides the following benefits to the sellers of goods or services-

1. Sellers gets easy access to the National Public Procurement market.

2. Direct access to various government departments and government organizations.

3. Easy access to participate in bids/ reverse auction.

4. In case of rejection of goods, the seller will be able to view the reason for said rejection.

5. Sellers can anytime reverse the auction of their goods and services.

6. Sellers can obtain registration on the GeM portal without any charges/ fees.

Registration on the GeM portal for ‘Buyers’-

In the case of ‘buyers’, the registration process is divided into two users i.e., ‘Primary Users’ and ‘Secondary Users’. The functioning of ‘Primary’ and ‘Secondary’ users is explained hereunder-

• Primary users register their organizations on the GeM portal.
• They will create user accounts for the Secondary users.
• Primary users will assign roles and responsibilities to the Secondary users. Primary users will supervise all the transactions of the Secondary users.

Notably, the following categories are allowed to obtain registration as ‘buyers’ under the GeM portal-

1. Central Government;

2. State Government ministries and departments (including subordinate offices);

3. Central and State autonomous bodies; and

4. Central and State PSUs and local bodies.

The ‘Primary Users’ can be registered on the GeM portal by following below easy steps-

STEP 1 – Visit https://gem.gov.in/;

STEP 2 – Go to the ‘Sign Up’ icon and select ‘Buyers’ from the drop-down list;

STEP 3 – Click ‘Review Terms & Conditions’;

STEP 4 – Go through the list of terms and conditions and tick the check-box;

STEP 5 – Enter ‘Aadhaar Number/ Virtual ID’ and ‘Mobile Number linked with Aadhaar’;

STEP 6 – Tick the verification box and click ‘VERIFY AADHAAR’;

STEP 7 – OTP will be sent to the registered number. Enter the OTP and click ‘Verify’;

STEP 8 – Registration form will be displayed. Enter all the necessary details accurately;

STEP 9 – Enter e-mail ID and verify the same;

STEP 10 – Enter User ID and Password;

STEP 11 – Re-confirm the password and click ‘Create Account’.

Once the account is created, the Primary user needs to add a secondary user by clicking ‘Add user’.

Registration on GeM portal for ‘Sellers’-

Following legal entities are allowed to obtain registration as ‘sellers’ under GeM portal-

1. Proprietary firm;

2. Partnership firm;

3. Limited Liability Partnership;

4. Private Limited Company;

5. Public Limited Company;

6. Registered society;

7. Statutory bodies.

The seller needs to satisfy the following eligibility criteria for getting eligible to be registered on the GeM portal-

1. The seller should be an OEM (i.e., Original Equipment Manufacturer); or

2. The seller should be an entity having the authorization to sell products that are manufactured by OEM.

It should be noted here that the following categories are considered as OEM (i.e., Original Equipment Manufacturer) and accordingly are eligible to sell products on the GeM portal-

1. Manufacturer;

2. Importer and authorized sellers;

3. Brand owners and third party manufacturing;

4. Service providers;

5. Assemblers

The ‘Seller’ can be registered on the GeM portal by following the below easy steps-

STEP 1 – Visit https://gem.gov.in/;

STEP 2 – Go to the ‘Sign Up’ icon and select ‘Seller’ from the drop-down list;

STEP 3 – Click ‘Review Terms & Conditions’;

STEP 4 – Go through the list of terms and conditions and tick the check-box;

STEP 5 – Enter ‘Aadhaar Number/ Virtual ID’ and ‘Mobile Number linked with Aadhaar’;

STEP 6 – Tick the verification box and click ‘VERIFY AADHAAR’;

STEP 7 – OTP will be sent to the registered number. Enter the OTP and click ‘Verify’;

STEP 8 – Registration form will be displayed. Enter all the necessary details accurately;

STEP 9 – Enter e-mail ID and verify the same;

STEP 10 – Enter User ID and Password;

STEP 11 – Re-confirm the password and click ‘Create Account’.

Payment of Caution money by the sellers-

It is true that sellers are not required to pay any registration fees under the GeM portal. However, they are required to deposit a fixed amount as a ‘caution money’ deposit. The amount of caution money to be deposited depends on the turnover of the seller. The same is explained in the table below-