GeM glossary: tender terms in plain words
EMD, ePBG, L1, BoQ, ATC, CRAC… what every common GeM bid term means, with a simple explanation and related guides.
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Bid (GeM bid / e-bid)
A GeM bid is a competitive tender published by a buyer on the portal. Registered sellers in the matching category submit technical…
Bid number
Every GeM bid has a unique number in the form GEM/<year>/B/<number>, for example GEM/2026/B/1234567. Reverse auctions linked to a bid…
Bid splitting (Quantity distribution)
When a bid allows it, the buyer can split the ordered quantity among more than one technically qualified seller instead of giving…
Bid validity
Bid validity is the number of days, counted from the bid end date, for which your offer must stay open and unchanged. The buyer must…
BoQ (Bill of Quantities)
A Bill of Quantities is a list of items with their description, unit and quantity on which sellers quote rates. On GeM, a BoQ bid lets the…
Bunch bid
A bunch bid groups several items — often from different GeM categories — into one bid, so the buyer can award them together. Sellers must…
Buyer
On GeM, a buyer is a government organisation — a ministry, department, PSU, autonomous body or local body — that purchases through the…
C
Catalogue
A GeM catalogue is a seller's listing of a product or service in a category, with its specification, brand/model, price, stock and…
Category (Product / service category)
GeM organises everything it sells into product and service categories, each with a standard specification template and terms. A buyer…
Class-I local supplier
Under the Make in India procurement order, a Class-I local supplier is one whose goods, services or works have local content equal to or…
Consignee
The consignee is the buyer-side official and location that receives the goods or services. A bid can have one or many consignees, each…
Contract (GeM contract / supply order)
When a buyer places an order on GeM — through direct purchase, L1 purchase or after a bid — the portal generates a contract with the…
Corrigendum
A corrigendum is an official change to a published bid — for example a new end date, changed quantity, revised specification or added…
CRAC (Consignee Receipt and Acceptance Certificate)
CRAC is the certificate the consignee generates on GeM after the goods or services have been received, inspected where required, and…
Custom bid
A custom bid is used when the buyer's requirement does not fit a standard GeM product or service category. The buyer writes its own…
D
DDO (Drawing and Disbursing Officer)
The Drawing and Disbursing Officer is the government official authorised to draw money from the treasury or accounts system and make…
Direct purchase
Direct purchase is the simplest GeM buying mode: for low-value orders within the limit set by the General Financial Rules and GeM policy…
DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade)
DPIIT is the central government department that recognises startups under the Startup India programme. A DPIIT-recognised startup gets a…
E
EMD (Earnest Money Deposit)
EMD is a bid security a seller deposits with the bid to show it is serious. It can be forfeited if the seller withdraws or changes its…
ePBG (Electronic Performance Bank Guarantee)
ePBG is the performance security the winning seller furnishes after the contract is awarded, as a bank guarantee issued electronically…
EPF (Employees' Provident Fund)
EPF is the provident fund scheme run by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). Covered employers deduct the employee's share…
ESIC (Employees' State Insurance Corporation)
ESIC runs the Employees' State Insurance scheme, which gives medical and cash benefits to covered employees up to a wage ceiling notified…
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GeM (Government e-Marketplace)
GeM is the Government of India's online marketplace (gem.gov.in) where central and state government ministries, departments, PSUs and…
GTC (General Terms and Conditions)
GTC are GeM's standard terms that apply to every contract on the portal — covering things like delivery, inspection, payment, warranty…
GTE (Global Tender Enquiry)
A Global Tender Enquiry is a tender open to foreign as well as Indian bidders. Government rules restrict GTEs below a value threshold so…
L
L1 (Lowest bidder)
L1 is the technically qualified seller with the lowest evaluated price. Only sellers who pass technical evaluation are ranked, so a…
L1 purchase
L1 purchase is a GeM buying mode for orders above the direct-purchase limit and up to a higher limit set by the rules. The buyer compares…
Local content
Local content is the share of an item's value that is added in India — the total value minus the value of imported content, as a…
M
MII (Make in India)
MII refers to the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, under which government buyers give purchase preference to local…
Minimum wage
Minimum wages are the lowest wages an employer must pay, notified by the central government and by each state for different skill levels…
MSE (Micro and Small Enterprise)
An MSE is a micro or small enterprise as defined under the MSMED Act, based on investment and turnover limits notified by the Ministry of…
MSE purchase preference
Under the Public Procurement Policy for MSEs, government buyers give eligible MSEs a preference: when the L1 is not an MSE, an MSE whose…
O
OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)
The OEM is the company that manufactures the product or owns its brand. On GeM, OEMs list their brands and models, and resellers can offer…
OEM authorisation (Manufacturer Authorisation (MAF))
OEM authorisation is the permission a manufacturer gives a reseller to sell its product. On GeM, resellers usually need it before they can…
P
PAC (Proprietary Article Certificate)
A PAC is issued by the buyer's competent authority to justify buying an item from a single make or source — for example spares that only…
Past performance
Past performance is a bid condition asking the seller (or OEM) to show it has already supplied the same or similar items to government or…
PFMS (Public Financial Management System)
PFMS is the Government of India's online system, run by the Controller General of Accounts, for tracking and making government payments…
PRC (Provisional Receipt Certificate)
The PRC is issued by the consignee on GeM when goods are delivered, confirming receipt subject to inspection and acceptance. It is not yet…
Pre-bid meeting
Some bids include a pre-bid meeting or conference, held before the end date, where prospective sellers can ask the buyer questions about…
PSARA (Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act, 2005)
PSARA is the central law that regulates private security agencies. An agency must hold a licence from the Controlling Authority of each…
R
RA (Reverse Auction)
A reverse auction is a live online round in which sellers who qualified in the technical evaluation lower their prices against each other…
Representation
After technical evaluation results are published, GeM gives disqualified sellers a short window to submit a representation — a written…
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Technical evaluation
Technical evaluation is the first stage after a GeM bid closes: the buyer checks each seller's eligibility, uploaded documents and…
Turnover criteria (Minimum average annual turnover)
Many GeM bids require the seller, and sometimes the OEM, to have a minimum average annual turnover over the last few financial years…
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For step-by-step help, read the GeM seller guides.