E-tender No: RBI/Andhra Pradesh Regional Office/HRMD/1/26-27/ET/205 A pre-bid meeting for the captioned tender was held as scheduled on August 05, 2026, at 11:00 AM in the Tungabhadra Conference Room, First Floor, Reserve Bank of India, Stalin Central, Governor pet, Vijayawada – 520002. List of participants are as indicated below: (a) List of Bank’s Officials who attended the meeting | SI. No | Name | Designation | | 1. | Shri Krishna Kumar S | Deputy General Manager | | 2. | Smt. Roopa V C | Assistant General Manager | | 3. | Shri Beshta Harish | Manager | | 4. | Shri Harinath Reddy | Assistant Manager | (b) List of Chartered Account Firm representatives who attended the meeting | SI.No. | Name of the firm | Name of the Representative | | 1 | J R S & Associates | Shri N Ravi Teja | | 2 | R S N L & Associates | Shri G Eswar Kumar | | 3 | Chowdary & Rao | Shri M N Vishnu Mohan | | 4 | P Subbarayudu & Co | Shri B Ram Charan Nayak | | 5 | M. N. RAO & Associates LLP | Shri T S Rama Mohana Rao | | Shri Y Chaitanya Krishna | | 6 | Komandoor & Co LLP | Shri P Surendranath Rao | | 7 | RSM & Associates | Smt. A Sunitha Devi | 2. Shri Krishna Kumar S, DGM welcomed the participants to the meeting. Shri Beshta Harish, Manager briefly explained the role of Concurrent Auditors and highlighted the important terms and conditions of the tender document. Thereafter, queries regarding the tender were invited from the participants. The queries raised by the representatives of the firms and the Bank's clarifications are tabulated below. | Sl. No. | Query | Bank’s Clarification | | i. | The firms informed that they were encountering errors while validating their Digital Signature Certificates (DSC) on the MSTC portal. | It was clarified that the firms may contact the officials of the MSTC portal for necessary assistance. The contact details of the MSTC officials have already been provided in the tender document. In addition, the contact numbers of the concerned MSTC officials were shared with the firms during the meeting for necessary support from MSTC. | | ii. | With respect to page 52 of the tender document relating to uploading of documents on MSTC portal, the firms enquired about the procedure to be followed in case the file size exceeds the maximum limit prescribed by the portal. | It was clarified that the firms should upload the documents within the maximum file size permitted by the MSTC portal. In case any document cannot be uploaded due to file size restrictions, the firm may may contact the officials of the RBI and forward the additional documents to the Bank through email. The maximum file size permitted per email is 10 MB, and multiple emails may be sent, if necessary. | | iii. | The firms expressed opinion that the minimum monthly remuneration of ₹61,000/- specified in the tender was low and suggested that RBI may consider adopting the ICAI norms for determining the minimum remuneration based on the staff deployed by the Chartered Accountant firm | It was clarified that, as specified on Page 26 of the tender document, ₹61,000/- per month is the minimum bid amount, and bids quoting an amount below this threshold will be treated as non-responsive and liable for rejection. Bidders are free to quote a financially viable amount based on their own assessment. The final evaluation will be carried out by assigning weightages of 70% and 30% to the technical and financial bids, respectively, and the bidder securing the highest combined score will be considered for appointment. In view of the higher weightage assigned to technical evaluation, the final selection will not depend solely on quoting the minimum financial bid. | | iv. | It was enquired whether firms having their registered office in another State but maintaining a branch office in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, are eligible to participate in the bidding process. | It was clarified that this is a limited tender and only Category-I Chartered Accountant firms registered with ICAI for the State of Andhra Pradesh are eligible to participate. It was further clarified that the appointment of Concurrent Auditors is made at the Regional Office level and is restricted to eligible Category-I firms registered within the State. | | v. | With respect to SI.No.10(ii) of the Certified documents to be uploaded i.e., appointment letters issued to Skilled Staff - Qualified in Group II of IPCC) by the Firm, the firms enquired about the alternative documentary evidence that may be submitted where original appointment letters were either unavailable or had not been issued at the time of appointment. It was also suggested that the ICAI Firm Card, payment records, or similar documents may be accepted as proof of the association of the articled assistant with the firm and the relevant period. One of the firms also suggested that documentary evidence regarding the number of partners, associates and articled assistants engaged by a firm should be verified in view of the competitive nature of the tender. One of the firms suggested that RBI may also refer to CAG score card issued to audit firms or ICAI data for verification of data. | It was clarified that RBI will verify the documentary evidence submitted during the technical evaluation to establish the number of Skilled Staff qualified in Group II of IPCC associated with the firm. Any documentary evidence that satisfactorily establishes the association of an articled assistant with the firm will be considered. The Bank will strictly verify all documentary evidence submitted in support of the staff strength of the firm and may seek additional documents, wherever considered necessary. | | vi. | With respect to page 36, point 16 which states “The firm will prepare and file GST and Income Tax Returns of the Bank (and also any other related return/s which may come in force subsequently) at the designated intervals.” Whether the firm would be responsible for filing or only checking of the return before filing. | It was clarified that auditors would be required to review and verify the correctness of the taxes arrived at and deducted, at both pre-payment (post sanction) and post payment stages. The firm would require to verify the draft GST and Income Tax returns of the Bank (and also any other related return/s which may come in force subsequently). The firm would be required to file applicable IT and GST returns on behalf of the Office within the timeline. The data required for filing the returns will be consolidated and provided by the designated section of the Office. | | vii. | Referring to the documentary proof required for experience of the CA firm in bank audits as Concurrent Auditors /Statutory Central/ Branch Auditor, the firms stated that they do not possess experience letters along with feedback from respective audited firms. They enquired whether the appointment letters issued by the banks would be accepted in lieu of experience certificates. | It was clarified that, as per the tender document, experience letters along with feedback from respective audited firms should be uploaded.
However, in cases where experience certificates have not been issued by the banks, appointment letters issued by the respective banks on their official letterhead will be accepted as documentary evidence. | | viii. | The firms enquired about the deployment of personnel for carrying out the Concurrent Audit. | It was clarified that, as per the terms and conditions of the tender document, the selected CA firm has to deploy, on a daily basis, three personnel for Concurrent Audit of which, one (1) should be qualified Chartered Accountant and two skilled Staff. The skilled staff should have passed at least Group II of the CA Intermediate or Group II of IPCC (Integrated Professional Competence Course) and are presently undergoing Article Training”. The deployed staff shall attend the Office during the normal working hours of the Reserve Bank of India.
It was also stated that in case Office relocates to Amaravati in future during the period of contract, the same number of personnel should be deployed at the new location. | 3. Firms were also advised to try uploading the tender documents well before the last date of bidding to avoid any last-minute errors in MSTC portal (https://www.mstcecommerce.com/eprocn/index.jsp). The firms were also informed that the EMD of all tenders other than successful tenderer would be refunded on award of contract to successful tenderer. It was also informed that EMD payment details shall be shared with officials of the RBI via email. In case the firm is a registered Micro and Small Enterprises under MSME Act, 2006, a copy of the MSE certificate shall be shared with RBI via email. 4. Bidders shall note that all the above clarifications provided by the Bank during the pre-bid meeting along with details indicated in the Tender document shall form part of the Tender/Contract. 5. The meeting concluded at 12:00 PM. Regional Director
Reserve Bank of India
(Andhra Pradesh Regional Office) | |