INVITATION TO BID: UGA/ITB/012/2023. FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FRAME AGREEMENT FOR THE PROVISION OF BUS TRANSPORT SERVICES

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DATE: 15 August 2023
INVITATION TO BID: UGA/ITB/012/2023.
FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF A FRAME AGREEMENT FOR THE PROVISION OF BUS TRANSPORT SERVICES
CLOSING DATE AND TIME: 31 August 2023– 23:59 hrs
INTRODUCTION TO UNHCR The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It also has a mandate to help stateless people. In more than five decades, the agency has helped tens of millions of people restart their lives. Today, a staff of some 16,000 people in more than 130 countries continues to help over 70.8 million persons. To help and protect some of the world’s most vulnerable people in so many places and types of environment, UNHCR must purchase goods and services worldwide. For further information on UNHCR, its mandate and operations please see http://www.unhcr.org.
1. REQUIREMENTS The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Representation in Kampala Uganda, invites qualified Transporters/suppliers to make firm offers for the Establishment of Frame Agreement(s) for the provision of transport services for UNHCR People forced to flee from and to the destinations mentioned in Annex B.
UNHCR may award Frame Agreement(s) to vendors (one or multiple) with duration of three (3) years period, potentially extendable for a further period of 12 months, subject to satisfactory performance of the contract of moving People forced to flee in the UNHCR Uganda operation. The successful bidder (s) will be requested to maintain their quoted price model for the duration of the Frame Agreement(s).
The requirements of UNHCR as per lots specified below and detailed in the attached Annex B.
Lot 1: South-West
1. Nakivale,
2. Kyaka II,
3. Rwamwanja
4. Kyangwali
5. Kisoro
6. Mbarara
7. Flat rate per KM for destinations not mentioned in lot 1 as below:
a) Cost per KM for Asphalt/bitumen roads
b) Cost per KM for Murram roads
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Lot 2: North-West
1. Arua
2. Adjumani
3. Yumbe
4. Moyo
5. Lamwo
6. Kiryandongo
7. Busia
8. Flat rate per KM for destinations not mentioned in lot 1 as below:
c) Cost per KM for Asphalt/bitumen roads
d) Cost per KM for Murram roads
Bidders can bid for one or all the lots.
Please note that figures in the Annex B have been stated in order to enable bidders to have an indication of the projected requirements. Figures may vary and will depend on the actual requirements and funds available regulated by issuance of individual Purchase Orders against the Frame Agreement (s).
Other United Nations Agencies, Funds and programmes shall be entitled to the same prices and terms as those contained in the offers of the successful bidder (s) and could form the basis for a Frame Agreement with other UN Agencies.
IMPORTANT:
When a Frame Agreement is awarded, either party can terminate the agreement only upon 30 days (1 month) notice, in writing to the other party.
The initiation of conciliation or arbitral proceedings in accordance with article 18 “settlement of disputes” of the UNHCR General Conditions of Contracts for provision of Services shall not be deemed to be a “cause” for or otherwise to be in itself a termination clause.
It is strongly recommended that this Invitation to Bid document and its annexes be read thoroughly. Failure to observe the procedures laid out therein may result in disqualification from the evaluation process.
QUALITY CONTROL THROUGHOUT THE FRAME AGREEMENT:
UNHCR may carry out random quality inspections, including specific selected criteria for performance evaluation by UNHCR or by an independent surveyor appointed by UNHCR. This is about the mechanical conditions of the buses, the compliance to the road regulations, especially the insurance validity and the professionalism and attitude of staff assigned to the convoy (drivers, conveyors).
Sub-Contracting: Please take careful note of article 5 of the attached General Terms and Conditions (Annex D).
Note: this document is not construed in any way as an offer to contract with your firm.
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2. BIDDING INFORMATION:
2.1. ITB DOCUMENTS
The following annexes form integral part of this Invitation to Bid:
Annex A: Terms of Reference (ToR)
Annex B: Financial Offer Form (Lot 1 and Lot 2)
Annex C: Vendor Registration Form
Annex D: UNHCR General Conditions of Contracts for the Provision of
Services – 2018
Annex E: UN Supplier Code of Conduct
Annex F: Vendor Sanction list form
Annex G: Questions and Answers template
2.2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Bidders are requested to confirm the receipt of this ITB and send their expression of their interest to participate to UGAKASUP@unhcr.org.
- Your confirmation of receipt of this invitation to bid
- Whether or not you will be submitting a bid
IMPORTANT:
Please note that Bid Submissions are not to be sent to the e-mail address above.
2.3. REQUESTS FOR CLARIFICATION
Bidders are required to submit any request for clarification in respect of this ITB by e-mail to Supply Unit at UGAKASUP@unhcr.org
The deadline for receipt of questions is on 23 August 2023 at 17:30 hrs EAT.
IMPORTANT:
Please note that Bid Submissions are not to be sent to the e-mail addresses above. Failure to comply with this provision may result in disqualification.
UNHCR will reply to the questions received as soon as possible by emailing to all concerned bidders.
2.4 YOUR OFFER
Your offer shall be prepared in English.
Please submit your offer using the Annexes provided. Offers not conforming to the requested formats may be not taken into consideration.
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IMPORTANT:
Inclusion of copies of your offer with any correspondence sent directly to the attention of the responsible buyer or any other UNHCR staff other than the submission address will result in disqualification of the offer. Please send your bid directly and only to the address provided in the “Submission of Bid” section 2.6) of this ITB.
Your offer shall comprise the following two sets of documents:
- Technical offer
- Financial offer
2.4.1 Content of the TECHNICAL OFFER
IMPORTANT:
No pricing information should be included in the Technical offer. Failure to comply may risk disqualification. The technical offer should contain all information required.
The Terms of Reference (ToR) for the services required by UNHCR can be found in Annex A.
Your technical offer should clearly state whether or not the services you are offering are fully conforming to the requirements specified in the ToR and as per standards. Clearly state and disclose any discrepancies with the requirements given, however, your offer should be in the same range of the provided requirements.
The following details shall also be provided in the Technical Offer.
a. Description of your company profile with the following information and documentation:
▪ Certificate of registration.
▪ Copy of business license to carry out transport services
▪ Have presence in Uganda with defined offices that can be easily accessed.
▪ Valid insurance (for transportation)
b. Buses Capacity: The bidder shall provide buses of 62-67 seater capacity.
c. Delivery Capacity: The bidder shall state the maximum number of buses which can be mobilised per Lot per day per location. The minimum number of required buses for each lot should be atleast 10 buses. The trips/convoys per route shall be determined by UNHCR. The bidder should have capacity to replace a faulty bus in record time. At least 1 standby bus is required to be available as a backup for any electro-mechanical breakdowns. The bidder should have sufficient fleet resources to be able to meet delivery requirements of UNHCR and other UN Agencies that may be interested. The bidder should have sufficient designated parking yard(s) for its buses
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that is easily accessible for purposes of inspection and deployment. The bidder shall state the predeployment notice period noting that expected movements will be urgent in nature. Upon receipt of formal number of pax on the manifest and loading instructions from UNHCR, the service provider shall rapidly deploy required bus(es) at the designated loading point preferably within 24 hours from the time of submitting the request to the service provider in order to timely render the required service. A notice period of no more than 1 day is the most suitable.
d. Quality Standards: You are requested to confirm/demonstrate in writing that your buses are maintained and repaired following high standards, and in well equiped wokshops and in good working mechanical conditions, also have a credible bus tracking system. Provide detailed description of each bus and its mechanical condition, with established maintenance and repair arrangements and recovery systems for the fleet in event of breakdowns.
e. Financial Standing: The bidders should be financially solvent enough to meet the magnitude of the required services and the emergency nature of UNHCR’s operations in Uganda, the bidder should provide signed Audited books of acconts for 2021 - 2022 or 2021-2020 to demonstrate financial capacity to provide the required services.
f. Core Business and Track Record: The bidder should be registered with Uganda Ministry of Transport and Communication, transportation as a core business and should have the operating licenses in Uganda and should demonstrate that provision of the required services listing a minimum of three similar and successfully completed contracts performed in the last two years evidenced by purchase orders and or contracts entered into with different clients.
g. Experience: Have adequate experience of minimum 5 years in bus transportation services in Uganda and also have adequate experience in responding to emergencies that require 24 hours and seven days a week (24/7) working schedule. Have experience in providing similar services to other busineses, including a description of the services rendered and names of the business served with their corresponding addresses.
h. Vendor Registration Form: If your company is not already registered with UNHCR, you should complete, sign and submit with your technical proposal the Vendor Registration Form Annex C.
If your company is already registered with UNHCR, please submit an empty Vendor Registration Form clearly indicating your UNHCR Vendor ID.
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UNHCR General Conditions for Provision of Services: Your technical offer should contain your acknowledgement of the UNHCR General Conditions for Provision of Services by signing Annex D.
However, please note that submitting an offer is deemed as full acceptance of UNHCR’s General Conditions for Provision of Services.
UN Supplier Code of Conduct
Your technical offer should contain your acknowledgement and ability to abide by the UN Supplier Code of Conduct by signing Annex E.
UN Non- Sanctions list
Your technical offer should contain your acknowledgement of the UN Non- Sanctions list that you are not sanctioned to do business with UN by signing Annex F.
2.4.2 Content of the FINANCIAL OFFER
Your separate Financial Offer must contain an overall offer in a single currency, in Uganda shillings only.
IMPORTANT:
Please carefully consider the pricing model applicable to this invitation tender.
The Financial offer is to be submitted as per the Financial Offer Form (Annex B, lot 1 and lot 2).
The following details shall be provided for each destination:
- Transport costs per bus per itinerary of interest
- The Unit cost per kilometer (KM) for:
1. Tarmac Road
2. Murram Road
Bidders shall indicate as well as take note of:
I. Total discount, if any
II. Validity of offer (preferably 120 days)
III. Service provider shall invoice UNHCR completed and delivery basis (invoicing will be as per completed route assignment).
IV. Invoices shall include a breakdown of costs by each delivery detailing all corresponding origins and destinations; refugees delivered according to the manifest.
V. All invoices submitted to UNHCR must be supported by instruction(s) from UNHCR with duly signed copy of manifest. Failing to do so may result in delays to payment or rejection of relevant line item of the invoice.
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VI. Service provider will promptly inform UNHCR for purpose of approval of any situation under the Contract, which may impose additional financial obligations on UNHCR.
VII. The provided rates will also be applicable to routes identified during the course of implementing the contract under the frame agreement duration. You are requested to hold your offer valid for 120 days from the deadline for submission. UNHCR will make its best effort to select a company within this period. The pricing model quoted in the Supplier’s offer will remain valid for the duration of the Frame Agreement. UNHCR’s standard payment terms are within 30 days after satisfactory implementation and receipt of documents in order.
The cost of preparing a bid and of negotiating a contract, including any related travel, is not reimbursable nor can it be included as a direct cost of the assignment.
UNHCR will not provide any advance payments or payments by letter of credit. The standard payment terms are by bank transfer net thirty (30) days after acceptance of contractor’s invoice and delivery of the services to the and/or acceptance by UNHCR of the services.
2.5 BID EVALUATION:
2.5.1 Supplier Registration:
The qualified suppliers will be added to the Vendor Database after investigation of suitability based on the submitted Vendor Registration Form and supporting documents. The investigation involves consideration of several factors such as:
• Financial standing,
• Core business,
• Track record,
• Contract capacity.
This will be followed later by technical evaluation as a supplier such as:
2.5.2 Technical evaluation:
The technical component of the submission will be evaluated using the criteria PASS or FAIL by using the exact same structure as outlined in this document under section 2.4.1. “Technical offer requirements” and the technical evaluation criteria below:
Please Note:
The bidders are not supposed to enter any information in this section and are only requested to provide the information keeping in mind the following evaluation criteria will be followed during evaluation. This section will be filled by UNHCR technical committee to score the technical capacity of the companies participating in the tender.
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S/N
Evaluation Criteria
PASS/FAIL
Description Company profile:
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Registration with Government Authorities
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Business License
3
Physical Address
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Insurance
5
Bus Capacity
6
Delivery Capacity
7
Quality Standards
8
Financial Capacity
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Core Business and Track Record
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Experience
2.5.3 Financial evaluation:
The financial component will be analyzed only for those suppliers that pass the technical evaluation
All bids from pre-qualified suppliers will be evaluated based on:
- Delivery lead time
- DAP Prices to applicable destinations (all costs included except VAT).
- UNHCR is exempt from all direct taxes and customs duties. With this regard, price has to be given without VAT.
- Please separate VAT from cost if charged.
For evaluation purposes only, the offers will be converted into US Dollars using the United Nations rate of exchange in effect on the date the submissions are due.
UN Global Compact and other factors: UNHCR supports the UN Global Compact Initiative put forward on 31 January 1999 by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that would bring companies together with UN agencies, labor and civil society to support ten principles in the areas of the human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. We encourage our suppliers to sign up with the UN Global Compact Initiative.
IMPORTANT:
The successful bidder shall take into consideration weight limitations, road conditions and other security issues.
2.6 SUBMISSION OF BID:
The offers must bear your official letter head, clearly identifying your company.
Bids should be submitted by e-mail and all attachments should be in PDF format. (Copies of the PDF format documents may, as an addition, be included in Excel or other formats etc.).
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Please indicate on the email subject field the ITB reference (INVITATION TO BID: UGA/ITB/012/2023 - PROVISION OF BUS TRANSPORT SERVICES.
Emails containing links to download bid documents will NOT be accepted.
The Technical and Financial Offer shall be submitted in separate emails.
Submitting technical offer and Financial Offer in one email may disqualify your offer.
Hand-delivery of bids will NOT be accepted.
Bid Submission Deadline: 31 August 2023– 23:59 hrs EAT
IMPORTANT:
Any bid received after this date or sent to another UNHCR e-mail address may be rejected. UNHCR may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for the submission of bids, by notifying all prospective bidders simultaneously.
It is your responsibility to verify that all e-mails have been received properly before the deadline. Please be aware of the fact that the e-mail policy employed by UNHCR limits the size of attachments to a maximum of 20 Mb so it may be necessary to send more than one e-mail for the whole submission.
Please indicate in e-mail subject field:
- Bid UGA/ITB/012/2023
- Name of your firm with the title of the attachment
- Number of e-mails that are sent (example: 1/3, 2/3, 3/3…etc.)
- In addition to which part is the attachment refers (“Technical” or “Financial”)
Example: UGA/ITB/012/2023–COMPANY NAME–Technical OR Financial offer–1/3
UNHCR will not be responsible for locating or securing any information that is not identified in the bid. Accordingly, to ensure that sufficient information is available, the bidder shall furnish, as part of the bid, any descriptive material such as extracts, descriptions, and other necessary information it deems would enhance the comprehension of its offer.
IMPORTANT:
The Financial offer will only be opened for evaluation if the supplier’s technical part of the offer has passed the test and has been accepted by UNHCR as meeting the technical specifications.
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2.7 BID ACCEPTANCE:
UNHCR reserves the right to accept the whole or part of your bid, or to allow split or partial awards.
UNHCR may at its discretion increase or decrease the proposed content when awarding the contract and would not expect a significant variation of the rate submitted. Any such increase or decrease in the contract duration would be negotiated with the successful bidder as part of the finalization of the Purchase Orders for Goods.
UNHCR may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for the submission of bids, by notifying all prospective suppliers in writing. The extension of the deadline may accompany a modification of the solicitation documents prepared by UNHCR at its own initiative or in response to a clarification requested by a prospective supplier.
Please note that UNHCR is not bound to select any of the firms submitting bids and does not bind itself in any way to select the firm offering the lowest price. Furthermore, the contract will be awarded to the bid considered most responsive to the needs, as well as conforming to UNHCR’s general principles, including economy and efficiency and best value for money.
2.8 CURRENCY AND PAYMENT TERMS FOR PURCHASE ORDERS
Any Purchase Order (PO) issued as a result of this ITB will be made in the currency of the winning offer(s). Payment will be made in accordance to the General Conditions for the Purchase of Goods and in the currency in which the PO is issued. Payments shall only be initiated after confirmation of successful completion by UNHCR business owner.
2.9 UNHCR GENERAL CONDITIONS OF CONTRACTS FOR THE PROVISION OF SERVICES
Please note that the General Conditions of Contracts (Annex D) will be strictly adhered to for the purpose of any future contract. The Bidder must confirm the acceptance of these terms and conditions in writing.
Muntasir Siddig
Senior Supply Officer
UNHCR BO Kampala, Uganda