33.1 The Contracting Authority, Applicants, Shortlisted Bidders, Bidders and any concerned entities shall, at all-time including the procurement process and during execution of PPP Contracts, ensure -
(a) strict compliance with the provisions of Section 24 and 25 of the PPP Act;
(b) that neither it nor any other member of its staff or any other agents or intermediaries working on its behalf engages in any practice detailed in Guideline 33.2 below.
33.2 For the purpose of Guideline 33.1 the terms -
(a) corrupt practice means offering, giving or promising to give, receiving, or soliciting, either directly or indirectly, to any officer or employee of a Contracting Authority or other public or private authority or individual, a gratuity in any form; employment or any other thing or service of value as an inducement with respect to an act or decision or method followed by a Contracting Authority in connection with any procurement process;
(b) fraudulent practice means the misrepresentation or omission of facts in order to influence a decision to be taken in connection with any procurement process;
(c) collusive practice means a scheme or arrangement between two (2) or more persons, with or without the knowledge of the Contracting Authority, that is designed to arbitrarily reduce the number of Applications, Proposals or Bids to be submitted or fix Financial Proposals or Financial Bid at artificial, non-competitive levels, thereby denying a Contracting Authority the benefits of competitive price arising from genuine and open competition; or
(d) coercive practice means harming or threatening to harm, directly or indirectly, persons or their property to influence a decision to be taken in connection with any PPP bidding process, and this will include creating obstructions in the normal submission process used for Applications, Proposals or Bids;
33.3 If corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive practices of any kind come to the knowledge of the Contracting Authority, the Contracting Authority shall call for a written explanation, to be provided within a period of 14 days, from Applicant, Shortlisted Bidder, Bidder or the entity alleged to have carried out such practices.
33.4 Unless a satisfactory explanation is given by the concerned Applicant, Shortlisted Bidder, Bidder or the entity that is acceptable to the Head of the Contracting Authority, the Contracting Authority shall, subject to the approval of the Applicable Line Ministry, debar the Applicant, Shortlisted Bidder, Bidder or the entity from participating in further procurement process of any PPP Project executed under the PPP Act.
33.5 Any Applicant, Shortlisted Bidder, Bidder or the entity that has been debarred by the Contracting Authority or by any other Government entity shall not be eligible to participate in further procurement process of any PPP Project executed under the PPP Act for a minimum period of 3 (three) years or for any other extended period that may be specified in the bid documents from the date of being debarred.
33.6 The PPP Authority may create, maintain and publish a list of debarred entities. The PPP Authority shall specify in the list of debarred entities the reasons for and the period for which that Applicant, Shortlisted Bidder, Bidder or the entity has been debarred and other appropriate information.
33.7 An entity, or an officer or staff member of the Contracting Authority to whom the PPP Act and these Guidelines apply, committing an offence related to professional misconduct, shall be dealt with as described in the PPP Act in Section 24 and 25 and Anti-corruption Commission Act 2004.