Responses to Queries Raised by Prospective Bidders of RFP for … · 2019. 4. 9. · of the RFP by...

S. No. Clause No. Page No. Clause Query Bank Response

1 Gen 5 Last date of bid submission

We would request you to extend submission date

of the RFP by a week as we need additional time to

process the EMD as per requirements stated in the

RFP document. The delay has been due to financial

closing towards the end of March.

Last date and time for submission of

bidding documents extended up to

18.04.2019 16:00 hrs

2 4 9

Bank will shortlist two SMS aggregators (i.e.

L1, L2) in the ratio of 70:30 who can handle

domestic and international SMS of predicted

volumes with delivery standards as per the

SLA proposed and is able to conform to the

technical specifications.

Will the SMS Middleware only be provided by L1?

Who is responsible for managing the traffic ratio?

L1 bidder has to provide software

with capability to split traffic at no

additional cost to the bank. L1 and L2

bidder should install such software at

DR Site also at no additional cost to

the bank.

3 6 10 Eligibility Criteria I would like to know that the bidder must have a

branch office as a support in Mumbai? Otherwise

the bidder is not qualify to participate?

Yes.

4 6.7 10

Bidder should have direct connectivity/tie

up/arrangement with minimum three

domestic telecom service providers for

delivering message to domestic numbers

(even when they are on International

Roaming) with minimum period of one year as

on date of submission of RFP. List of

aggregators/ telecom operators and the

countries each of them is connected with is

required to be submitted and copy of relevant

documentary proof should be submitted.

regarding proof of direct connectivity with

domestic telecom service providers, a letter issued

by the telecom service provider on their letter-

head along with stamp and authorised signature

will suffice

Please be guided by RFP

Responses to Queries Raised by Prospective Bidders of RFP for Selection of SMS Aggregator for Delivery of

Domestic & International SMS

LAST DATE OF BID SUBMISSION EXTENDED UP TO 18.04.2019 16:00 Hrs

1 of 8 pages

5 6.8 11

Bidder should have a capability to handle at

least 100 lac Real Time SMS alerts per day for

banking transactions of Banks. Purchase Order

/ Performance certificate is required to be

submitted.

It should be consolidated banking SMS traffic and

upto 30 Lac per day Please be guided by RFP

6 6.8 12

Initial contract period will be for 5 years.

Thereafter contract may be extended based

on mutually agreed rates and terms &

conditions. There should not be any price

escalation during the contract period.

However any downward revision in IUC

charges, Government Levies etc, the same will

be passed to the Bank on proportionate basis.

Please consider price revision based on any new

regulations published by TRAI / Telecom operators.

These are not in aggregator's control


7 8.5 13

Sender ID allotted should be unique for our

Bank and same should not be used by any

other entity across the globe. Vendor need to

submit the declaration for the same.

we can guarantee that Sender ID allotted will be

unique and not used by any other entity for any

SMS originating from our platform. However, we

do not have control of SMS originating from any

other platform

This clause should be read as "Sender

ID allotted should be unique for our

Bank and same should not be used by

any other entity across the globe

through L1/L2 bidder. L1/L2 bidders

need to submit the declaration for

the same."

8 8 13

The solution should be supplied by L1 bidder

and should have the following feature.

Solution of L2 bidder should have capability to

integrate with solution provided by L1.

How does bank intend to split the traffic.

L1 bidder has to provide software

with capability to split traffic at no

additional cost to the bank. L1 and L2

bidder should install such software at

DR Site also at no additional cost to

the bank.

9 8.2 13

The API should support encryption-decryption

for the entire API parameters supporting DES/

3DES/ AES algorithm

Can we support data transfer over SSL secure

channel?Please be guided by RFP

10 8.24 15

L1 / L2 bidder should have provision to split

the traffic and deliver the messages to their

respective SMS gateway.

L1 will provide the infrastructure & L2 will only

provide connectivityPlease be guided by RFP

2 of 8 pages

11 9 15

Bank shall provide Hardware, Operating

System for hosting required software to the

bidder. The Application/tool should be hosted

on Banks on-premise Cloud Infrastructure at

DC, Mumbai & DR site Bangalore. Bidder has

to provide hardware and system requirement

as per Annexure I. Bidder has to suggest

optimal Hardware requirement to meet

present and future needs (next 5 years) of the

Bank.

Does the Bank want an on-premise appliction to

process SMS or does the bidder have to provide

only APIs?

L1 bidder has to provide software to

process SMS/Voice OTP/Whatsapp

messages.

12 8.24 15 8.24. L1 / L2 bidder should have provision to

split the traffic and deliver the messages to

their respective SMS gateway.

Will L2 also place middleware at the Bank?

Yes. L1 bidder should place

middleware at DC & DR. L2 bidder

should place middleware at DR which

would be used in case of

requirement.

13 8.19 15The bidder should provide the archives of all

the messages sent to their gateway with the

delivery status in a CD/ DVD on monthly basis.

Can we enable this process on SFTP instead of

CD/DVD data transfer?Please be guided by RFP

14 10 16 Compliance with IS/Cyber Security Policy

The Bidder is expected to follow Bank's IS &

Cyber Security Policy. Please note that every

organization has its own policy in regards to

Information Security & Cyber Security. The Bidder

shouldn’t be forced to implement the security

policy as laid out by the Bank.


15 14 16

Price Validity

Prices payable to the successful bidder as

stated in the Contract shall be firm and not

subject to any changes at any circumstances

during the contract period of five years

Please consider price revision based on any new

regulations published by TRAI / Telecom operators.

These are not in aggregator's control


3 of 8 pages

16

10.

Compliance

with

IS/Cyber

Security

Policy

16

Some of the key areas are as under:

10.1. Responsibilities for data and application

privacy and confidentiality

10.2. Responsibilities on system and software

access control and administration

10.3. Custodial responsibilities for data,

software, hardware and other assets of the

Bank being managed by or assigned to the

Vendor

10.4. Physical Security of the facilities

10.5. Physical and logical separation from

other customers of the Vendor

10.6. Incident response and reporting

procedures

10.7. Password Policy of the Bank

10.8. Data Encryption/Protection

requirements of the Bank.

10.9. In general, confidentiality, integrity and

availability must be ensured.

Do we have to comply with the bank policy, which

we don’t have now for review on the mentioned

points? Will it be in the guideline of ISO 27001?


17 17.1.1 17

The bidder should deposit bid security of

Rs.1,50,00,000/- (Rupees One Crore fifty Only)

in the form of a demand draft favoring Union

Bank of India, payable at Mumbai or Bank

Guarantee issued from Scheduled Commercial

Bank other than Union Bank of India. Bank

Guarantee should be valid for minimum 6

months from the date of issuance of RFP with

minimum claim period of 60 days.

EMD amount of Rs. 1.5 cr is too high. Request you

to kindly reconsider reducing the samePlease be guided by RFP

4 of 8 pages

18

17.1. Bid

Security/

EMD

(Refundable

)

17

17.1.1. The bidder should deposit bid security

of Rs.1,50,00,000/- (Rupees One Crore fifty

Only) in the form of a demand draft favoring

Union Bank of India, payable at Mumbai or

Bank Guarantee issued from Scheduled

Commercial Bank other than Union Bank of

India. Bank Guarantee should be valid for

minimum 6 months from the date of issuance

of RFP with minimum claim period of 60 days.

Can we reduce the EMD value from 1.5 Crores to a

lesser value? SBI EMD value was Rs. 20,00,000 for

SMS Tender


19 17.2 18 Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG

the Performance Bank Guarantee of 10% of TCO

(working out to approximately 10cr) is too high.

Request you to kindly reconsider reducing the

same


20 23 28 Pre bid Meeting

Yesterday was the pre-bid meeting which I just

aware. Therefore, for those bidder/vendor who did

not participate the pre-bid meeting can they still

participate ?

Non- attendance at the Pre-bid

Meeting will not be a cause for

disqualification of a bidder.

21 29.3 31Information SMSes/Voice/Whatsapp messages

delivered to mobile handset after 1 hour

promotional content needs to be whitelisted with

OEM. The same is subject to timelines and

approval by WhatsApp

It refers to contents which are

whitelisted with OEM/Whatsapp.

22 29.3 31

Promotional SMSes Voice/Whatsapp messages

delivered to mobile handset after 2 hours

(excluding the block period defined as per

TRAI guidelines)

promotional content needs to be whitelisted with

OEM. The same is subject to timelines and

approval by WhatsApp

It refers to contents which are

whitelisted with OEM/Whatsapp.

23 29 31 SLA

Scheduled Maintenances at the bidder's end

should be considered as excluded from the

downtime penalty if informed to Bank in advance

by a week.

Bidder is expected to have DR Setup

to ensure continuity as per RFP

Clause 31.

24 29.4 32 29.4 Penalty for fall in success Rate:

The penalty for Fall in success rate for delivery

percentage of SMS should only be put on OTP and

Transactional messages and not bulk / information

/ promotional messages


5 of 8 pages

25 33.1 33

33.1. L1 Bidder should deploy one onsite

resource during the contract period with

adequate skill set and experience for

monitoring and management of the proposed

solution during office hours. However in case

of need or emergent situation it must be

extended on Sundays/Holidays also. The

deputed resources should manage and

maintain software as per the agreement. Bank

reserves the right to claim change in resource

based on the performance of the resources.

Will only L1 deploy the onsite resource? Please be guided by RFP

26

Annexure C

– Eligibility

Criteria

45

Bidder should have been offering SMS

Aggregation services in at least one

PSB/Scheduled Commercial Bank in India at

the time of issuance of the RFP and should

have been in the SMS Aggregation business in

India for last 3 years as on date of issue of RFP.

In case of a Telco , Telcos have all banks route the

SMC through their networks . So this is not

applicable for Telcos.

"In case the bidder is TSP , they need to give a self-

declaration on having the capability of serving any

bank"


27Annexure C -

Clause 745

Bidder should have direct connectivity/tie

up/arrangement with minimum three

domestic telecom service providers for

delivering message to domestic numbers

(even when they are on International

Roaming) with minimum period of one year as

on date of submission of RFP.

Do we provide a certificate from operators from

when they are connected with us to provide the

one year condition?

Any relevent Document proof such as

agreement, certificate etc can be

submitted.

28Annexure C -

Clause 846

Bidder should have a capability to handle at

least 100 lac Real Time SMS alerts per day for

banking transactions of Banks.

Are invoices raised to banks ok to submit?

Invoices which are accepted by Bank

with proper stamp and signature of

Bank Officials will be considered.

6 of 8 pages

29

Annexure D

(A) - clause

11

49

Sender ID allotted should be unique for our

Bank and same should not be used by any

other entity across the globe. Vendor need to

submit the declaration for the same.

There is no central repository for sender IDs as of

today, we cannot guarantee the sender ID will not

be used by another entity.

Refer response serial number 7 to this

corrigendum

30Annexure D

(A) - 1349

Bidder should have solution to send voice over

OTP. Voice over OTP need to be send in case

of failure of OTP through SMS

What is the Voice Pulse rate to be considered for

configuration and commercials? 30 seconds pulse?

Refer revised Annexure E and

Anneuxure F as provided with this

corrigendum.

31

Annexure D

(A) - clause

19

50

SMS Solution should be ready to be integrated

with Whatsapp (Android, iOS & Windows OS)

functionality with authorized tie up/license

with OEM.

Please explain the requirements for WhatsApp

messages further. Will WhatsApp messages be sent

to only Domestic numbers? WhatsApp has

different commercials for India and other

countries.

Refer revised Annexure E and

Anneuxure F as provided with this

corrigendum.

32Annexure D

(A) - 1950

SMS Solution should be ready to be integrated

with Whatsapp (Android, iOS & Windows OS)

functionality and should have authorized tie

up/license with OEM.

Is this authorized tie up with WhatsApp? Yes.

33 56.7 51Cost for one onsite resource post Go live of

project

L2 will have to match prices of L1 for each line

item. Cost of one onsite resource post Go live of

project will be considered only if applicable

L2 bidder has to match the Bill of

Material itemwise in all respect with

Bill of Material of L1 bidder post

reverse auction.

7 of 8 pages

34 10 81

10. Price Fall Clause

The Bidder undertakes that it has not supplied

/is not supplying same or similar

product/systems or subsystems at a price

lower than that offered in the present Bid in

respect of any other Ministry /Department of

the Government of India or PSU or Coal India

Ltd and its subsidiaries during the currency of

the contract and if it is found at any stage that

same or similar product /Systems or

Subsystems was supplied by the Bidder to any

other Ministry /Department of the

Government of India or a PSU or any Public

Sector Bank at a lower price during the

currency of the contract, then that very price

will be applicable to the present case and the

difference in the cost would be refunded by

the Bidder to the Buyer, if the contract has

already been concluded”.

Please note, as per TRAI, some sender IDs are

exempted from Termination charges. However,

this clause would not be applicable to non-

exempted Sender IDs. Bidder is servicing SMS

Services for a lot of Government entities which

have their sender IDs exempted, therefore kindly

let us know the approach on this clause.


35 GenGeneral

What would be the Data Retention /Purging Policy

for UBI ?

Data and Logs should be retained for

the contract period.

8 of 8 pages

Revised Annexure E – Un-priced Indicative Commercial Bid

S.

No.

Item Description

(SMS/Voice/whatsapp

Messages is to be delivered

with time specified as per

SLA)

Unit cost

(Cost Per

SMS in

Rupees)

(a)

Number of

SMS per

month

(Bank’s

estimated

Volumes)

(b)

Cost for contract

period of 5 years

in Rupees.

(c)= a x b x 12 x 5

(excluding taxes)

Submitted

(Yes/No)

1 Charges for Domestic OTPs XX 2,00,00,000 XX

2 Charges for Domestic

financial transactional SMSs XX 10,00,00,000 XX

3

Charges for Domestic

informational / promotional

SMSs

XX 4,00,00,000 XX

4

Charges for International

SMSs (OTP, Financial

Transactions, informational/

promotional)

XX 2,40,000* XX

5


Whatsapp messages

compatible with Android,

iOS & Windows OS.

XX 5,00,000 XX

6


Whatsapp messages


iOS & Windows OS.

XX 2,40,000* XX

7

Charges for Domestic voice

over OTP (for 30 Seconds

Pulse)

XX 10,00,000 XX

8


voice over OTP (for 30

Seconds Pulse)

XX 2,40,000* XX

9 Response Push for the

VMN Numbers XX 60,00,000 XX

10 Missed call charge for the

VMN Numbers XX 60,00,000 XX

11

Cost for one onsite

resource post Go live of

project.

XX 1 (Month) XX

12 Rental charges for every

single additional VMN

numbers**

XX 1 (Month) XX

Total Cost to Ownership

(TCO) XX

TCO in words XXX

Notes:

1. TCO must be quoted in Indian Rupees and in WORDS AND FIGURES exclusive of

taxes and it is valid for five years.

2. In case of any discrepancy, TCO quoted in words will be considered.

3. The price quoted should be inclusive of Cost of deliverables, Enterprise

License, installation, customization, maintenance and support of mentioned

Software in this RFP as per Bank’s requirement.

4. Payment will be made on monthly basis as per the mentioned Payment Terms.

5. Bank will not consider any conditions mentioned in the commercial bid. Bank

reserve the right to disqualify the bidder if any deviation/conditions are

mentioned in the commercial bid.

6. All the prices are mandatory to be quoted else bid is liable to be rejected.

7. Vendor need to provide the software without any extra cost and do

integration/migration with Bank’s existing Infrastructure/software.

8. The prices should include implementation cost, software tools, 24*7*365

support and any other cost required to implement the solution successfully.

Bank will not pay any Labour charges, incidental chargers, installation of

Software, commissioning of solution separately. All such costs, if any, should be

absorbed in the TCO.

9. *Country-wise breakup for the total number of international SMS /Voice OTP/

Whatsapp message is provided as Annexure T.

10. Number of SMS/Voice OTP/Whatsapp messages/Response push/Missed call

mentioned above is indicative only and may increase or decrease as per the

actual requirement of the Bank. Number of SMS/Voice OTP/Whatsapp

messages/Response push/Missed call mentioned is only for calculation of TCO.

11. Cost of the resource is fixed for the entire contract period. Bank may take

additional resources as required during the contract period at the same cost.

12. **Rental charges for every single additional VMN numbers which would be

required in future for the bank in addition to the 10 VMN numbers provided

freely by the successful bidders in the ratio of L1:L2::7:3. Bank will purchase

any number of additional VMN numbers during the contract period at the cost

discovered. In case of expiry of contract or termination of the contract due to

any reason, the bidders have to surrender these additional virtual mobile

numbers to the Bank.

Authorized Signatory:

Place: Name & Designation & mail id :

Date: Business Address:

Revised Annexure F – Indicative Commercial Bid

S.

No.

Item Description

(SMS/Voice/whatsapp

Messages is to be delivered

with time specified as per

SLA)

Unit cost

(Cost Per

SMS in

Rupees)

(a)

Number of

SMS per

month

(Bank’s

estimated

Volumes)

(b)

Cost for contract

period of 5 years

in Rupees.

(c)= a x b x 12 x 5

(excluding taxes)

Submitted

(Yes/No)

1 Charges for Domestic OTPs 2,00,00,000

2 Charges for Domestic

financial transactional SMSs 10,00,00,000

3


informational / promotional

SMSs

4,00,00,000

4


SMSs (OTP, Financial

Transactions, informational/

promotional)

2,40,000*

5


Whatsapp messages


iOS & Windows OS.

5,00,000

6


Whatsapp messages


iOS & Windows OS.

2,40,000*

7

Charges for Domestic voice

over OTP (for 30 Seconds

Pulse)

10,00,000

8


voice over OTP (for 30

Seconds Pulse)

2,40,000*

9 Response Push for the

VMN Numbers 60,00,000

10 Missed call charge for the

VMN Numbers 60,00,000

11

Cost for one onsite

resource post Go live of

project.

1 (Month)

12 Rental charges for every

single additional VMN

numbers**

1 (Month)

Total Cost to Ownership

(TCO)

TCO in words

Notes:

1. TCO must be quoted in Indian Rupees and in WORDS AND FIGURES exclusive of

taxes and it is valid for five years.

2. In case of any discrepancy, TCO quoted in words will be considered.

3. The price quoted should be inclusive of Cost of deliverables, Enterprise

License, installation, customization, maintenance and support of mentioned

Software in this RFP as per Bank’s requirement.

4. Payment will be made on monthly basis as per the mentioned Payment Terms.

5. Bank will not consider any conditions mentioned in the commercial bid. Bank

reserve the right to disqualify the bidder if any deviation/conditions are

mentioned in the commercial bid.

6. All the prices are mandatory to be quoted else bid is liable to be rejected.

7. Vendor need to provide the software without any extra cost and do

integration/migration with Bank’s existing Infrastructure/software.

8. The prices should include implementation cost, software tools, 24*7*365

support and any other cost required to implement the solution successfully.

Bank will not pay any Labour charges, incidental chargers, installation of

Software, commissioning of solution separately. All such costs, if any, should be

absorbed in the TCO.

9. *Country-wise breakup for the total number of international SMS/Voice OTP/

Whatsapp message is provided as Annexure T.

10. Number of SMS/Voice OTP/Whatsapp messages/Response push/Missed call

mentioned above is indicative only and may increase or decrease as per the

actual requirement of the Bank. Number of SMS/Voice OTP/Whatsapp

messages/Response push/Missed call mentioned is only for calculation of TCO.

11. Cost of the resource is fixed for the entire contract period. Bank may take

additional resources as required during the contract period at the same cost.

12. **Rental charges for every single additional VMN numbers which would be

required in future for the bank in addition to the 10 VMN numbers provided

freely by the successful bidders in the ratio of L1:L2::7:3. Bank will purchase

any number of additional VMN numbers during the contract period at the cost

discovered. In case of expiry of contract or termination of the contract due to

any reason, the bidders have to surrender these additional virtual mobile

numbers to the Bank.

Authorized Signatory:

Place: Name & Designation & mail id:

Date: Business Address:

Responses to Queries Raised by Prospective Bidders of RFP for … · 2019. 4. 9. · of the RFP by...

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