Government contractor selection to change: 80 marks for quality, 20 for price, easier entry for newcomers in draft law

Offering the lowest price will no longer guarantee winning a government contract. The draft Public Procurement (Second Amendment) Act, 2026 proposes that, for domestic construction work and physical services bought through open tenders, 80 percent of the total marks will go to the quality and durability of the work and 20 percent to price, with the contract recommended for the firm scoring highest on the combined total. The same draft eases entry conditions for new and small firms, women entrepreneurs and people who held licences but could never take part in government work.

The 13-page draft contains 36 sections. The Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority (BPPA) invited public opinion on it on October 29, and the draft may be placed before the cabinet meeting on Monday.

Under the draft, a new firm cannot be kept out merely because it lacks long experience, a high annual turnover, experience of working for government bodies, or experience of one large previous contract. Qualification conditions must not unnecessarily restrict the participation of newly registered persons or new entrepreneurs.

Not all conditions are being removed, however. Special conditions may still be imposed considering the type, complexity and risk of the work — no one may be excluded by unnecessary conditions, but bidders must still show the qualifications and capacity the work actually requires.

The draft creates a category of 'deprived persons' — those who, in the up to 20 years before the proposed law takes effect, held valid registration or licences but could not, or did not, take part in government procurement for lack of opportunity or a favourable environment. The government will be able to relax qualification conditions for them and for new, micro, small and women entrepreneurs. The draft does not spell out who will count as deprived or what proof and verification will be required; those details are left to the rules.

State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam, a member of the committee formed on government procurement, said the existing conditions mean the same contractors keep taking part in tenders while many newcomers cannot. A committee led by the law minister, formed on the prime minister's instructions, reviewed the issues; the amendment aims to widen participation for all kinds of businesses, contractors and suppliers, and the procurement rules will also be amended accordingly.

Another major proposal is area-based enlistment. Lists will be prepared area-wise covering bidders of all classes, including new and small firms, and the draft proposes making limited tendering from those lists mandatory for domestic purchases within a set value limit. The draft does not state the value ceiling; it will be fixed in the rules. For specialised or technical purchases, another method may be used with the approval of the head of office. Being on a list will not itself win work — listed firms must still be selected through competition. Limited tenders currently require no bid security; the draft allows security to be introduced through the rules.

Evaluation will also proceed in stages. Technical proposals will be assessed first — covering the firm's qualifications and capacity, how the work will be done, how quality will be ensured and how durable it will be. Financial proposals of technically successful bidders will be opened afterwards. Quality and durability marks will then carry 80 percent weight and price marks 20 percent, and the evaluation committee will recommend the firm with the highest combined score. By way of illustration, 72 of 80 on quality plus 16 of 20 on price totals 88, beating a rival with 64 on quality and a full 20 on price, which totals 84. Combining quality and price marks also featured in last September's ordinance, but without a fixed ratio; this draft sets the ratio directly at 80:20.

Evaluation criteria must be disclosed in the tender documents in advance and the evaluation committee must follow them strictly. The top-scoring firm's capacity to implement the contract and its financial capability will also be verified before the final recommendation. For purchases outside this special arrangement, the existing rule of selecting the lowest evaluated responsive bidder remains.

There is also a strict proposal on bid prices. For domestic construction and physical services through open tender, a bid more than 10 percent below or above the official estimated cost will be rejected. If the official estimate for a job is Tk 10 crore, acceptable bids will range from Tk 9 crore to Tk 11 crore. A 10 percent band existed for construction before; it was removed in the 2025 reforms and replaced with a check on abnormally low bids. This draft proposes outright rejection of bids outside the band, which makes the government's own cost estimate decisive in deciding which bids stay in the competition at all.

The draft also empowers the government to prioritise domestically produced goods in public procurement and to make buying certain classes of domestic products mandatory. Foreign persons or firms wishing to take part must form a joint venture with a Bangladeshi person or firm. Firms or persons may be declared ineligible for government procurement for a fixed period for corruption, fraud, forgery, collusion, coercion or failure to perform, but only after being told the allegations and given a chance to defend themselves. Officials responsible for accepting completed work will also be accountable for negligence or failure.

Earlier, the Public Procurement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026 was gazetted on September 21. The new draft keeps most of that ordinance's provisions, adds further changes, and proposes repealing the earlier ordinance.

Former CPTU (now BPPA) director general and public procurement expert Md Faruk Hossain said long exclusion from work cannot be viewed only as political deprivation; taking part under the rules and being able to show the required qualifications also matter. With e-GP in place, directly obstructing bid submission is also harder, but no one should face discrimination in participation, he said. He added that widening opportunities for newcomers must not become unfair advantage for anyone in particular; if enlistment and contractor selection leave room for influence, the quality of work will suffer — so both a level competitive field and quality must be ensured.