The Right to Information Act, 2005 gives every citizen the right to access government records — including tender evaluation reports, award decisions, and contract details. For tender participants, RTI is a powerful tool to understand why you lost, verify evaluation fairness, and gather market intelligence.
What You Can Request via RTI
- Tender evaluation report — how each bidder was scored on technical parameters
- Financial bid details — prices quoted by all bidders (after financial bid opening, this becomes public information)
- Award recommendation — committee's recommendation and the competent authority's approval
- Reasons for rejection — specific grounds on which your bid was rejected
- Contract agreement — terms of the awarded contract (with commercial confidentiality protections)
- Corrigenda and clarifications — all amendments and responses to pre-bid queries
How to File an RTI for Tender Information
- Identify the right PIO — the Public Information Officer of the procuring department. Available on the department's website.
- Draft your request — be specific. "Provide the technical evaluation report for Tender No. XYZ dated DD/MM/YYYY" gets better results than "provide all tender documents."
- Pay the fee — ₹10 for central government. Paid via IPO, DD, or online on RTI portals.
- File online — rtionline.gov.in for central government. State RTI portals for state departments.
- Response timeline — PIO must respond within 30 days. File first appeal to the appellate authority if denied or delayed.
Using RTI Strategically
- Post-rejection analysis — understand exactly where you lost marks. Use this to improve future bids for similar tenders.
- Price benchmarking — request awarded prices for past similar tenders. This data helps you price future bids competitively.
- Challenge unfair evaluation — if RTI reveals evaluation inconsistencies, you can file a complaint with the department or approach the court/tribunal.
- Market research — understand which companies win specific types of tenders and at what prices. Helps you target the right opportunities.
Limitations
- Information that would harm competitive position of a third party may be denied under Section 8(1)(d)
- Trade secrets and commercial confidence are protected — you can get evaluation reports but not proprietary technical methodologies
- Information relating to ongoing investigations (CBI, CVC) may be withheld
- Some security-related tenders (defence, intelligence) have blanket exemptions
Track Tender Results
View tender results, awarded prices, and evaluation details on Tenderkart.
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