Government e-Marketplace, i12/8/2022n a matter of moments known as GeM, is a modernized stage that enables the exchanging of work and items. GeM portal is a paperless; contactless and credit-just web-based business community. The sole justification for GeM is to further develop viability; straightforwardness, and speed in open obtaining. Government workplaces/associations, being enrolled buyers, acquire work and items from the enlisted trader through the GeM entrance. 

The continuous article immediately covers the arrangement of encounters and experiences of the GeM entrance; the objective of the GeM passage; the upsides of the GeM entrance to buyers and vendors; the enrollment collaboration for the two buyers as well as sellers and the nuances of watchfulness cash paid by the traders.

History and estimations of the GeM entrance GeM door is an electronic stage for public obtaining in India. The passage was shipped off on the 10th of August 2016 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 

Oddly, the GeM entrance was made in a record time of five months. Noticeably, the fundamental variation of the GeM door was worked with and made by the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 

In any case, the ongoing GeM passage is made and administered by the Managed Service Provider (i.e., MSP). Really, as of 31st August 2021, the GeM doorway had 25,98,510 traders and expert centers. Further, it had around 16,409 thing classes summing up to around 52 Lakhs things. Examining organization classes, the GeM entrance had 193 assistance characterizations.

In the following paragraphs, we summarize the critical goals of the GeM enrollment entrance

1. To grow viability, straightforwardness, and speed in open obtaining.

2. To give various strategies for procurement like direct purchase; presenting with switch e-auction; e-offering and direct inverse closeout.

 3. To make administrations/government divisions mandatorily get work and items from the entry.

 4. To engage capable expense disclosure; economies of scale and dispersal of best practices. 

When buyers of things and work use GeM as an entryway into the marketplace, there are a number of advantages

1. A higher extent of thing collections is open at the entrance which updates the client’s choice.

 2. Straightforwardness of cost and posting of various things for individual characterizations of items as well as organizations.

3. Esteem assessment of various suppliers.

 4. Straightforward dashboard for buying; noticing supplies as well as portions. 

5. Straightforward request, select break down and buy the workplace. 6. Works with a straightforward product trade.

 7. Licenses various delegate assurance for organizations. 

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal is a one-stop portal to facilitate online procurement of everyday use services and goods required by various government organizations, departments, or PSUs (Public Sector Units). 

The department of commerce has developed the GeM portal to bring transparency to the old public procurement tender process by government departments. Public procurement is how state-owned enterprises and government departments purchase services and goods for their operational needs from the private sector. 

The GeM portal aims to enhance efficiency, transparency, and speed in public procurement along with inclusion. It provides the tools of reverse e-auction, e-bidding, and demand aggregation to help government users/buyers get the best value for their money. 

The GeM portal’s main objective is to facilitate government departments to procure services or products with the right quality, quality, volume, and sources in defined timelines. Government users and sellers need to register themselves as buyers and sellers respectively to avail of the online GeM portal benefits.

Buyers on the GeM Portal

The following organizations can register on the GeM portal as buyers and are authorized to make procurement through the portal:

• Central Government.
• State government ministries.
• State government departments, including its subordinate offices.
• Central and state autonomous bodies.
• Central and state PSUs and local bodies.

The following government officers/head of offices can register their organizations as primary users on the GeM portal:

• Any officer of
  • Central Government. 
  • State government. 
  • Public Sector Units (PSU). 
  • Autonomous bodies, local bodies, constitutional bodies, or statutory bodies at the deputy secretary of government level.
• Head of the office at sub-centre, unit, or branch.

The primary users are responsible for registering their organisations on the GeM portal, but they cannot participate in the procurement. They need to create user accounts for the secondary users, assign them roles and responsibilities and supervise all secondary users transactions on the portal. 

The secondary users are the buyers for the procurement of the organisation. However, a primary user can be a consignee to receive a service/product. The secondary users are officials responsible for procurement on the GeM portal, including receipt of stores, placement of contracts, payment to the sellers, etc.

The primary user can give the secondary users the role of a buyer, consignee, Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO), paying authority, etc. The buyer is the official responsible for processing procurement transactions till the order placement stage. The consignee will be the secondary user responsible for accepting the goods procured and certifying receipt in the buyer organisation. 

The secondary users should utilise the GeM portal for the purchases as follows:

• Direct purchase up to Rs.25,000 without comparison (except automobiles) through the suppliers available on the GeM portal meeting the requisite specification, quality, and delivery period. 
• L1 purchase through direct purchase for orders above Rs.25,001 up to Rs.5,00,000 through the GeM sellers having lowest price by comparison between at least three different Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) or service providers on the GeM portal meeting the requisite specification, quality, and delivery period. 
• Purchases worth more than Rs.5,00,000 can be made on the GeM portal through the supplier having the lowest price meeting the requisite specification, quality, and delivery period. After obtaining bids, the purchases must be made using the reverse auction tool or online bidding provided on the portal (excluding automobiles, where the limit is Rs.30,00,000). The procuring authorities should certify the reasonability of rates.  

Registration of Buyers on the GeM Portal

The prerequisites for primary user registration are:

• Aadhaar number of the primary user.
• A mobile number linked with Aadhaar.
• Email IDs hosted by National Informatics Centre (NIC). Only the NIC registered email IDs can register on the GeM portal, i.e. official email ID.

The process of registration of buyers on the GeM Portal is as follows:

• The primary users need to visit the GeM Portal. 
• Primary users have to click on the ‘Sign Up’ button and select the ‘Buyer’ option on the right-hand side of the homepage.
• On the next page, the users have to click on the ‘Review Terms and Conditions’ button, read the terms and conditions document and select the ‘I have read and agree to the Terms & Conditions of Government e-Marketplace (GeM)’ option on the document.
• Next, the primary users must enter the ‘Aadhar Number’, ‘Mobile Number Linked with Aadhar’ and click on the ‘Verify Aadhar’ button.
• The primary users need to fill in the required details such as organisation details, user name, password, official email ID and mobile number on the account registration form and click on the ‘Create Account’ button.
• The primary users must verify the official email ID by opening the GeM verification mail sent to the official email ID and clicking on the ‘Verify Email’ button.
• The primary users should visit the GeM Portal, click on the ‘Login’ button on the homepage, enter the user ID and password, and log in to the portal.
• The primary users must create secondary users by clicking on the ‘User’ button on the top right-hand side of the homepage, clicking on the ‘Add user’ button, filling up the details of the secondary user and clicking on the ‘Add’ button.

The secondary users can log in to the GeM Portal through the user ID and password shared by the primary users and procure goods and services from the portal. The primary users can change the roles and profile of the secondary users.

The secondary users who the primary users have assigned the role of buyers can log in to the portal, select the product and add it to the cart. They need to create demand, generate sanction orders and generate contracts. Once an order is placed, the seller will deliver the goods or services to the consignee within the stipulated delivery date and generate an online invoice on the GeM portal.