E-Paper
HC quashes PSPCL tender for supply of 1,000 electrical meters
The tender was regarding the supply, installation, testing, commissioning, reading, analysis and integration of the billing system of 1,000 power quality Class-A electrical meters
The Punjab and Haryana high court has quashed Punjab State Power Corporation Limited’s (PSPCL’s) decision of awarding a tender observing that mandatory technical safeguards in public procurement process can’t be bypassed.
The tender was regarding the supply, installation, testing, commissioning, reading, analysis and integration of the billing system of 1,000 power quality Class-A electrical meters.
The court acted on the plea from Kannect Engineers Pvt Ltd, filed through senior advocate Anand Chhibbar.
The process was initiated in February 2025 and a purchase order was placed on March 18, 2026, by the PSPCL. The allegations were that the firm was finalized by the PSPCL without getting crucial technical test reports of the equipment, which should have been done prior to award of the tender.
The court observed that in the absence of test reports as mandated in the notice inviting tender PSPCL’s action is “found to be most arbitrary” because by doing so PSPCL placed an order for the supply of 1,000 highly sophisticated electrical meters without knowledge of the fact as to whether such meters are compliant with the prescribed technical specifications.
Before considering a bid, the PSPCL should have first satisfied itself that the technical equipment in question complied with all the prescribed standards and not after placing the order wait for the supplier to furnish the required test reports that the equipment in question meets all the required technical standards. “This is a clear example where the PSPCL has put the cart in front of the horse,” it observed.
The court, however, left it open to the PSPCL to initiate a fresh tender process for the project.
