The pre-bid meeting for the captioned work was held at 03:00 PM on October 16, 2026, over WebEx, as per the Notice Inviting Tender published in RBI website and CPPP Portal.
2. The queries raised, and the clarifications issued are as under:
| S. No. | Query / Clarification sought / Clause in RFP | Response recorded |
| 1. | Request for exemption of EMD for certain category of bidding companies. | No exemption to the clause would be given. |
| 2. | Relaxation to average turnover requirement for the last 3 consecutive financial years i.e. F.Y. 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26. | No relaxation would be given for this clause |
| 3. | For Sl. No. 7 of Annex III to the RFP, "The Agency should have accomplished digital campaign of minimum ₹2 crore and social media campaign of ₹2 crore during each of the last financial years for a single product/service/brand at any single instance", clarification sought regarding whether we mean single campaign or single brand and whether digital and social media should each be ₹2 crore individually. | The Agency should have accomplished digital campaign and social media campaign of minimum ₹2 crore during each of the last 3 consecutive financial years for a single product/service/brand at any single instance. |
| 4. | For the S No. 4 in Annex III of RFP "The Bidder should be a profitable organization (on the basis of PAT) for at least 3 out of the last 4 financial years namely FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24, FY 2024-25 and FY 2025-26. The unit should be in Profit during FY 2025-26," Whether CA certificate is acceptable for FY 2025-26? | Yes. |
| 5. | Please clarify if the estimated cost of work ₹12,00,00,000/- is including taxes or excluding | The amount is excluding taxes. |
| 6. | Whether CA certificate can be submitted to ascertain "Client List for business relationship of ₹5 Crore and above in previous year i.e. F.Y. 2025-26." | Yes. |
| 7. | Whether CA certificate can be submitted to ascertain "Client List for business relationship in BFSI Sector of ₹5 Crore and above in previous year i.e. F.Y. 2025-26." | Yes. |
| 8. | Minimum 5 years' experience in digital marketing, social media strategy and online response management. Proof of one campaign of at least ₹50 lakh for each of the last five financial years is required. What are the acceptable documentary evidence? | Evidence of purchase order/work order with period of empanelment would be considered to meet the eligibility criteria. |
| 9. | Client list for business relationships of ₹5 crore and above during FY 2025–26. Kindly clarify whether the client list should be supported by empanelment letters, work orders or invoices. Further, please confirm whether both private-sector and Government/PSU clients will be considered for evaluation. | Client list supported by empanelment letters, work orders or purchase orders from both private-sector and Government/PSU clients will be considered for evaluation. |
| 10. | Years of experience in Online Response Management, supported by self-declaration and proof of completed work or release orders and invoices for the oldest campaign. The terminology "Online Response Management (ORM)" was not commonly used in work orders issued more than 10 years ago, although similar services were undertaken under different descriptions. Kindly clarify whether such work orders, supported by relevant documentary evidence, will be accepted for evaluating ORM experience. | The stated work orders, supported by relevant documentary evidence, will be accepted for evaluating Online Response Management experience. |
| 11. | EMD of ₹24,00,000, with the Bank Guarantee valid for one year from the last date of submission. Clarify the EMD/BG release timeline for unsuccessful bidders and upon completion of the prescribed requirements. | The EMD/BG for unsuccessful bidders will be refunded/returned as stated in the RFP. |
| 12. | Request for deletion of the following clause of RFP "EMD may be forfeited for withdrawal, false or misleading information, failure to accept the award within seven days, or failure to submit the PBG." | No deletion/modification in this Para would be possible |
| 13. | Modification to the following clause of SLA "Penalties include double the daily average service payment for downtime/delay and 4% of the total contract value for the first occurrence and 6% for the second occurrence if inconsistency continues for seven days or more." | The terms of the same will be discussed with the successful bidder later prior to signing the SLA. |
| 14. | Deletion/modification of the following clause of RFP "RBI may invoke the PBG and take action, including delisting or blacklisting." | No deletion/modification in this Para would be possible. |
| 15. | PBG of 5% of the estimated work cost, valid for the entire contract period. Clarify the PBG calculation base and confirm that it will not be increased without a corresponding change in contract value. Release the PBG within 30 days of expiry or termination, subject only to quantified and substantiated claims. | PBG should be valid for the entire period of contract from the date of start of services. PBG should be equal to 5% of the total estimated cost of work. The PBG will be released after the expiry of validity period, subject to satisfactory performance of the contractual obligations and settlement of all dues/claims of the Bank under the contract. |
| 16. | For the clause "Manage all the existing and future social media activities of the Bank, as may be assigned by the Bank from time to time." Around what number of creatives we are looking at? | A minimum of 30 creatives on a monthly basis across X, Linkedln, Facebook, Instagram, Public and YouTube. |
| 17. | Proforma A and B list '24*7 Social Media Strategy & Management' as a service / commercial line item. Kindly confirm. | Yes. The same specifies round the clock live publishing. |
| 18. | Creatives should be designed as and when desired by the Bank, with no restrictions on the number of iterations on creatives. Can we specify a cap on the revisions/iterations? | No defined cap on revisions/iterations can be assured. |
| 19. | Whether creatives with voice over in English / Hindi / Both are to be provided including Title, Description, and Keyword Tagging. | The Creatives with voice over in English / Hindi / Both are to be provided by the Agency. |
| 20. | Clarity on podcasts. | The script, speaker, guest, venue for the Podcast will be provided by the Bank. Agency has to shoot at least 36 podcast episodes as and when requested with one episode to be released monthly. |
| 21. | Can RBI clarify whether prior BFSI experience is a mandatory eligibility requirement or a technical evaluation criterion? Additionally, what specific documentation would be required to establish an agency's experience in the BFSI sector? | Prior BFSI experience is a technical evaluation criterion. The same can be supported by empanelment letters, work orders or invoices from both private-sector and Government/PSU clients. |
| 22. | Kindly clarify whether source files of stock assets, fonts and licensed elements are also required to be transferred. | Yes |
| 23. | Kindly specify the podcast platforms/channels currently under RBI management. | RBI broadcasts its podcast on its official YouTube handle. |
| 24. | Please confirm whether coordination for profile takedown is included within agency scope. | Yes, takedown due to creative issues/reasons are expected to be handled. |
| 25. | Kindly confirm the number of dashboard users/licenses required by the Bank. | 200 |
| 26. | Kindly confirm whether tool licensing/subscription costs should be included in the commercial bid. | Yes |
| 27. | Kindly confirm whether dedicated onsite resources are required to support 24x7 operations. | Yes |
| 28. | Kindly clarify whether RBI expects a new workflow system or integration with an existing RBI platform. | RBI expects a new workflow system |
| 29. | Kindly confirm whether bidders using licensed enterprise social listening platforms through authorised subscriptions or implementation partnerships would qualify, even without ownership of a proprietary tool or a formal preferred-partner certificate. | Yes |
| 30. | Kindly confirm whether bidders must independently achieve both sectional thresholds in the technical evaluation. | Bidders must independently achieve both sectional thresholds. |
| 31. | Please clarify whether the agency is required to monitor print newspapers/magazines through e-paper or clipping services, or only their online editions and social media presence. | Only Online editions |
| 32. | Online Response Management services are generally delivered through a monthly retainer model and do not have a separate campaign value. Kindly clarify whether retainer-based documents such as work orders/contracts, invoices or client certificates will be accepted as proof for ORM experience. | Yes. |
| 33. | Since both services may be delivered through an integrated team structure, kindly clarify whether bidders are required to quote these services as separate line items or whether a combined quotation can be submitted with one line item marked as included. In case separate pricing is mandatory, kindly clarify the treatment of individual line items. | Yes, separate pricing is mandatory accordingly quotation may be given ensuring no overlapping in quotes given for each item. |
| 34. | Please confirm the expected date/timeline for the bidder presentation/demonstration and whether it will be conducted in person or online. | An in-person evaluation will be conducted and the presentation date would be conveyed suitably later. |
| 35. | Kindly clarify the notice period applicable to the discontinuation of any service line and whether any minimum commercial commitment or payment obligation will apply to the discontinued service line. | 30 days. As mentioned in the RFP, the invoice has to be raised for only the services offered during the month. |
i) This document (minutes of the Pre-Bid Meeting) shall form a part of the tender. Hence, it shall be signed and uploaded on CPPP along with the tender by the tenderers.
ii) Rest of the terms and conditions and specifications of the bid document shall continue to remain the same.
iii) The above amendments/ clarifications are issued for the information of all the intending bidders.