Cancellation of Procurement

A Procuring Entity (PE) sought guidance as follows:

1. The PE issued an invitation to tender via the restricted bidding procurement method for the procurement of GPU Server, where the following was stated in the Terms of Reference (TOR) and was included in their evaluation criteria:

“The contractor shall also provide complete documentation of the equipment, configurations, IP addresses, and manufacturer’s paraphernalia of the project.”

2. At the close of tender, only one bid was received;
3. During the evaluation process, it was advised by the technical personnel that it was the responsibility of the PE to provide the IP address and not the bidders;
4. Further, it was indicated that the GPU Server being procured is no longer available for purchase, due to it being reclassified to serve another purpose. 
5. The PE noted that the sole bidder proposed an alternative server which the PE IT Division accepted as being suitable for the purpose intended;
6. The PE was concerned that any of the factors mentioned above would have resulted in exclusion of prospective bidders from participating in the tender exercise.