The process of the proposal evaluation in public procurement of Bangladesh for selection of consultancy services

Abstract

In the selection process of consulting services, the employer requires to assess firm’s ability to deliver consultancy which is an intangible product. Notably it is identified as service procurement function according to PPR 2008 and PPA 2006 of Bangladesh government. The main problem in purchasing consultancy services appears to relate to judging for selecting the consultant. The complexities in selection process and subjective evaluation criteria are the main issues that arise while selecting consultants due to absence of explicit guideline in procurement of services. In Bangladesh perspective, there are also other several challenges like deficit of short-listing, time consuming efforts and inadequate evaluation that are being observed during consultant selection process under the function of service procurement. An average of fifteen month time span is required to complete an evaluation process in service procurement which is really not justified. During service procurement, there are many tasks that need to perform and, thus a larger time is required to accomplish these tasks. Furthermore, the absence of explicit evaluation criteria leads subjective analysis in the evaluation process which is not judiciary. So it is imperative to introduce an explicit guideline for service procurement selection process and also important to achieve active participation from the persons involved in selection process. The time lag observed in consultancy selection process can also be managed through nondiscriminatory treatment of all stakeholders involved and can be reduced dramatically.