HC upholds BEST’s call to disqualify TaMo’s bid for e-buses
Premium- Tata Motors had bid to supply electric buses for ₹2,450 cr
MUMBAI : The Bombay high court on Tuesday upheld Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) undertaking’s decision to disqualify Tata Motors’ bid from supplying electric buses worth ₹2,450 crore. A division bench of Justice Sanjay Gangapurwala and Justice M.J. Jamdar said, “Tata Motors was rightly disqualified. It is held that the decision of BEST to hold Evey Trans responsive is incorrect. Evey is also held non-responsive. BEST may, if required issue a fresh tender."
Evey Trans Pvt. Ltd is the competing bidder firm along with Tata Motors for the tender floated by BEST. Resultantly, the contract for 2,100 electric buses awarded to Evey Trans will likely be cancelled.
A detailed order, however, is awaited in the matter. On 7 June, the high court had reserved its order in the matter.
Earlier in May, Tata Motors moved the Bombay High Court by filing a writ a petition challenging its rejection from the tender for electric buses and its award to Hyderabad-based Evey Trans. It had also alleged BEST of corruption and favouritism. In a tender floated by BEST, it invited bids for operation of State Carriage Services for public transport of 1,400 single-decker Air Condition electric buses in Mumbai and its extended suburbs on gross cost contract model for 12 years.
After which, Tata Motors filed its technical and financial bid for the tender following a pre-bid meeting during which it requested that BEST amend certain tender parameters, which BEST agreed to do.
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Meanwhile, BEST released the tender’s technical suitability evaluation, which Tata claimed was incorrectly labelled as “technically non-responsive" while terming Evey’s bid as “responsive". Tata Motors had challenged the award of tender to Evey on the grounds that 2 hours before the technical evaluation, in complete disregard of tender conditions which put a specific emb argo on any changes to the technical bid after opening of the technical bid, BEST allowed Evey Trans to change its bid.