Grievance Redressal Process for Vendors (Point-wise Flow)

Level I - Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC)

1. Vendor Grievance Registration

• A link will be provided on the corporate portal for vendors to raise grievances related to tenders with the Grievance Redressal Committee.
• Vendors can log in to the portal via:
  • Option A: 8-digit SAP Vendor Code with Open LDAP password.
  • Option B: 10-character Temporary Registered ID with corresponding password.
  • Login Page Message (Hardcoded):
    "In case of grievance related to GEM tenders, please login to GEM Portal >> Dashboard >> Incident and submit your grievance."

2. Grievance Category Selection

Upon login, vendors will see 4 grievance categories:

• Pre-Qualification Process
• Notice Inviting Tender (NIT)
• Tender Process (excluding NIT)
• Post Price Bid Opening

3. Tender Selection (Based on Criteria Below)

System will display only relevant tenders from Eproc - Limited/Public and SAP-Manual, linked to the vendor code:

• Pre-Qualification Process
  • Tenders published within 7 days from login date & not yet due.
• Notice Inviting Tender (NIT)
  • Tenders having due date up to 7 days before or 7 after the login date.
• Tender Process (Other than NIT)
  • Tenders having due date up to 7 days before the login date.
• Post Price Bid Opening
  • Tenders with price bid opened within 7 days before login date.

Note: For Manual Tenders, Purchase Officers must update all tender stage dates in SAP to ensure system retrieves them correctly.

4. On Tender Selection, the following are displayed:

• Tender Number
• Tender Title
• Publish Date
• Original & Current Due Date
• Purchase Group & Description

5. Grievance Submission Form

• Title of Grievance (max 100 characters)
• Detailed Description (max 500 characters)
• Supporting Document Upload (PDF/Word/Excel, max size: 5 MB)
• Save and Submit options

6. Post Submission Workflow

• Display of acknowledgement with auto-generated Grievance No. and Date.
• Entry saved in "History" section with status "Submitted."
• Email triggered to RFQ creator (Purchase Officer) with portal link.
• Grievance appears in Purchase Officer's inbox.

7. Internal Review by GRC

• TPA forwards grievance to GRC coordinator via employee master.
• GRC Coordinator:
  • Acknowledges receipt (auto-acknowledgment sent to vendor).
  • Forwards to GRC member with TPA's comments.
  • Conducts offline deliberation & prepares MoM (internal use).
  • Uploads Final Reply Letter (viewable/downloadable by vendor).
  • Changes grievance status to Closed.
  • Same vendor cannot raise a new grievance for the same tender & sub-type.

Level II - Executive Committee (EC) Appeal

• "Appeal" button enabled for 7 days post reply from GRC Level I.
• EC Secretary of respective committee (Marketing/Refinery/Corporate) receives appeal.
• EC handles offline discussion and prepares Minutes.
• EC Secretary uploads:
  • Internal MoM (not visible to vendor)
  • Final Reply Letter (visible to vendor + email notification)
• Grievance status marked Closed post upload.

8. Portal Hygiene and Development Guidelines

Usability

• Responsive UI for mobile/tablet access.
• Tooltips/help icons on each form field.
• Auto-save for in-progress grievance drafts.

Audit & Traceability

• Full audit trail for each grievance.
• Logs of user actions for transparency.
• Timestamping of all uploads and approvals.

Scalability & Integration

• Scalable architecture for high traffic (esp. around tender deadlines).
• Integration with SAP & Eproc for real-time tender info.
• API layer to allow data sharing with other grievance systems (e.g., GEM).

Compliance

• System must comply with internal IT/IS policies and relevant government data privacy laws.

9. Notifications & Reports

• Email Triggers at each workflow stage to:
  • TPA, Purchase Officer, Committee Members, Vendor
• Automated Reminders and Escalations as per timelines.
• Reports & MIS:
  • Register Format (as per PM guidelines):
    i) Sr. No
    ii) Tender No
    iii) Date of grievance
    iv) Grievance nature
    v) Decision details
    vi) Communication date
    vii) Turnaround Time
    viii) Tender Title
    ix) Vendor Name
    x) CPO Category
    xi) CPO Zone
  • Reports for submission to CFD & Board.