GeM Vendor Assessment Exemption: Eligibility, Documents, & Step-by-Step Process

Accurate documentation is very important. Lack of or unsigned documents is the main cause of stalling the processing. Every piece of documentation should be either self-attested or digitally signed by the authorised signatory.

Basic Documents for Every Applicant

• Form AOC-4 Financial Statements for the last FY, filed with MCA
• Copy of BEN-2 filed on the MCA Portal
• Beneficial Ownership Declaration on company letterhead
• List of Directors with DIN, nationality, and Aadhar/passport
• Import Export Code (IEC) Certificate
• MCA portal Master Data of the Company
• Form MGT-7 Annual Return for the last financial year, filed with MCA
• List of shareholders' names of all holding more than 1% shares, their nationality, and CIN (if the shareholder is a company)
• Authorisation letter in favour of the signing official

Documents for Foreign Companies or Joint Ventures

• RBI permission for opening a branch under FEMA (in case of a foreign entity)
• Joint Venture Agreement/Shareholders Agreement, plus the details of each JV partner as above

Documents for Exemption Specific

• BIS license holders: Current BIS license - checked through the BIS database
• DRDO/OFB/SITRA: ICC certificate copy
• NSIC-registered OEMs: NSIC registration certificate for the specific category
• Drug/Medicine manufacturers: Drug License + notarised undertaking
• Medical device manufacturers: The licensing authority must issue a manufacturing license to the medical device manufacturers.
• CMVR holders: CMVR holders should have a valid CMVR certificate issued by the relevant authority.

Vendor assessment is a formal review process that takes place on the GeM portal. This process is usually targeted towards OEMs and certain types of resellers. It evaluates the quality of the products, production capabilities, and other credentials of the business.

Vendor assessment exemption is another matter. It enables a seller to avoid vendor assessment altogether if he/she fulfills certain criteria. When GeM grants an exemption, the vendor enjoys full access to the portal features, including the right to participate in Q1 and Q2 bidding categories.

Exemption cannot be taken for granted. The seller should submit relevant documents, make a formal request, and wait for RITES to verify their claim. Besides, the validity of the exemption depends on the nature of the certification held.

Note: The vendor assessment exemption on GeM is free of charge. Vendors who qualify for exemption can go through the VAE at no cost, which is different from the normal vendor assessment that takes payment.

The GeM VAE guidelines explain specific categories. Below is a clear walkthrough of all eligible types:

Policy change clause: If GeM changes the VAE criteria, affected vendors will be required to complete the standard Vendor Assessment within one month of the revised policy notification.

All vendor assessment and VAE applications are routed to RITES (Rail India Technical Economic Service). This is a third-party body that the GeM portal has appointed for independent verification.

RITES will scrutinise the documents uploaded and detect any deviations or inconsistencies. The usual turnaround time is only 2 working days. When RITES discovers a problem, it will communicate it by placing remarks in the assessor response section. The vendor can monitor their application status under the ‘Assessor Response’ tab.

After the application has been reviewed and approved by RITES, GeM issues the vendor assessment exemption. Because of this, the seller gets complete access to the portal.

The GeM Vendor Assessment is conducted to ensure that sellers on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) are genuine, reliable, and capable of delivering quality goods and services.

Without vendor assessment or its exemption, the seller doesn’t have access to the critical GeM features needed to grow. That means no Q1 and Q2 category bidding and no government contracts.

VAE eliminates the hassle quickly and at no cost. OEMs registered on GeM and possessing BIS licenses or NSIC registrations find this very appealing. After submitting truthful credentials, they are done.

No additional fee or time commitment is required for the opportunity to include a video assessment. Think of the timeline difference for a full vendor assessment, which can last up to a number of weeks, including payment, scheduling, and then concluding. The VAE takes as little as 2 working days after RITES’s assessment.

That’s hugely valuable to a company with busy auction deadlines. Both the NSIC registration and the BIS certification act as entry points into VAE. If a company already has either of these, they will find their journey to full GeM access is shorter than they might expect.

The table below highlights the key differences between Vendor Assessment (VA) and Vendor Assessment Exemption (VAE) on the GeM portal.

Vendor assessment exemption is just a part of the whole system. To get the best out of your GeM registration, you also need to know about the related processes. For example, sellers who have been recognised as deemed OEMs on GeM usually find it easier to get vendor assessment exemptions. Also, having an active MSME registration (Udyam) is a great support in being eligible for NSIC-linked exemptions. If a company is dealing in pharmaceutical or medical products, then apart from checking their drug license status, it is very important for them to have a valid, notarized license, as it offers a very simple route to the vendor assessment exemption of that category.

Some sellers and businesses who want to make the most of their GeM presence can think of merging their vendor assessment exemption with a GeM retainership plan. This plan will ensure that their compliance, catalog updates, and bids are always supported, not just a single registration.

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