Suspicion in the quotation by one of the bidders, prompted the Bhutan Standards Bureau (BSB) to investigate. The investigation of the sample products submitted by the bidder confirmed that all the office stationery were spurious.
The investigating bureau confirmed that 99% of the products which were to be supplied to their office were spurious. This is the first investigation conducted by the Bhutan Standards Bureau after its autonomy.
The Head of Standardization Division, Chewang Rinzin, said of the four bidders, one quoted unreasonably low price, which he said, roused suspicion. “When three bidders quote Nu.10, 000 and another quotes Nu.4, 000, it definitely gives us a reason to doubt.”
The bureau then asked the bidders to submit the samples. “The investigating committee came across suspicious features in the samples submitted by the lowest bidder,” said Chewang Rinzin.
He said the bid will be cancelled and the particular bidder will not be allowed to bid for a year.
Chewang Rigzin said they will look into more of such cases since Bhutan Standards Bureau’s mandate is to promote quality products. He said monitoring such cases related to computer products will be difficult. He said the procuring agency should be mindful, “that ways I am sure a lot of things will solved.”
