Team Herald
PANJIM: With the High Court of Bombay at Goa directing the State to expedite the process of installing digital taxi meters, Transport Department will float a fresh e-tender on Friday in an attempt to get bidders manufacturing/supplying equipment which meets the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification.
The State has scrapped the earlier process after BIS notified new specifications. “If we had to pursue the earlier process, the entire exercise would have been obsolete and non-compliance to the existing law. We have to go for best norms and BIS is a universal norm in the country. Left with no option, government had to scrap the previous bidding and go for a fresh e-tender,” a senior officer told Herald.
As per the new chart, Transport Department has assured installation of digital meters with GPS by December 25 this year.
The High Court had slammed the department for not being vigilant about the standards uploaded on the BIS website, as it resulted into further delay.
Sources said that the department already faced a tough time in receiving bids to the previous tender and the BIS mandatory standards cannot be dodged for obvious reasons.
“Goa was the first State to go for digital meters and hence it was very tough to look for an appropriate agency. The bidders were asked to submit proof of concept in the earlier tender and they took a long time to submit,” the source said, justifying the initial delay.
“With the coming of BIS, the entire earlier process had to be scrapped keeping in mind the future. If we had to accept the old version, the digital meters would be obsolete, waste of investment, waste of energy, and an overall futile attempt,” he added.
