भारतीय साधारण बीमा निगम

General Insurance Corporation of India

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) - EMPANELMENT OF FIRM OF

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AS TAX CONSULTANT FOR

GENERAL INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA (GIC Re)

(A WHOLLY OWNED GOVERNMENT OF INDIA COMPANY)

DATE OF ISSUE: 01 July 2015

GIC Re is India’s National Re-insurer and the world’s 15th largest Re-insurance company.

Considering its unique nature of business spread across the globe, Corporate Taxation

occupies vital position as Indian Taxation Laws are very volatile in nature.

GIC Re enjoys commendable and respectable position among peers for its financial

strength and professional excellence. Being an international organization, GIC Re has to

comply with taxation laws of India and worldwide. The very purpose of appointing an

external agency as tax consultants is to guide and ensure compliance of Corporate

Direct and Indirect taxation laws through a reputed tax practicing firm of Chartered

Accountants.

INFORMATION REGARDING TIMELINES

The following shall be the time schedule for completion of the bidding process:

SN Event Schedule

Date / Time

1. Date of issue of EOI 01.07.2015

2. Last Date for Seeking Clarifications 10.07.2015

3. Last date of Bid submission 31.07.2015

4. Opening of Technical Bid 04.08.2015

5. Shortlisting of Successful Bidders 07.08.2015

1. Introduction and Disclaimers

1.1 Purpose of EOI The purpose of EOI is to form a panel of Tax Consultants in GIC Re, Head Office, Mumbai, for taxation related Issues, having experience in direct and indirect tax matters.

1.2 Disclaimer Subject to any law to the contrary, and to the maximum extent permitted by law, GIC Re and its officers, employees, contractors, agents, and advisors disclaim all liability from any loss or damage (whether foreseeable or not) suffered by any person acting on or refraining from acting because of any information including forecasts, statements, estimates, or projections contained in this EOI document or conduct ancillary to it whether or not the loss or damage arises in connection with any negligence, omission, default on the part of GIC Re or any of its officers, employees, contractors, agents, or advisers.

1.3 Costs to be borne by Respondents All costs and expenses incurred by Respondents in any way associated with the development, preparation, and submission of responses, attendance at meetings, discussions, demonstrations, etc. and providing any additional information required by GIC Re, will be borne entirely and exclusively by the Respondent. 1.4 No Legal Relationship No legal relationship will exist between any of the Respondents and GIC Re until execution of a contractual agreement.

1.5 Respondent Obligation to Inform Itself The Respondent must conduct its own investigation and analysis regarding any information contained in the EOI document and the meaning and impact of that information.

1.6 Evaluation of Offers Each respondent acknowledges and accepts that GIC Re may in its absolute discretion apply selection criteria specified in the document for evaluation of proposals for short listing / selecting the eligible respondent. The EOI document will not form part of any contract or arrangement, which may result from the issue of this document or any investigation or review, carried out by a Recipient. 1.7 Acceptance of Terms

A Respondent will, by responding to GIC Re for EOI, be deemed to have accepted the terms of this Introduction and Disclaimer. Application for Empanelment of Firm of Chartered Accountants for Tax Consultancy The duly completed tender document (technical bid) should be put in a large sealed envelope and superscribed “Application for Empanelment of Firm of Chartered Accountants for Tax Consultancy” and submitted to the GIC Re Head Office on or before 15.00 hrs on July 31, 2015, at the following address:

General Insurance Corporation of India, Head Office, Suraksha, 170, J.T. Road, Churchgate, Mumbai – 400 021 Telephone No. 022-22867177/22867171/22867172

P.S. The sealed envelope should be dropped in the box placed on 1st floor, Suraksha, General Accounts Section (GAS).

Note: Details sought for as per the EOI, along with the attachments must be submitted in sealed envelope only.

The person(s) signing the bid documents shall preferably initial all pages of the bid. The bid shall contain no erasures or overwriting except as necessary to correct errors made by the bidder, in which case corrections shall be initialed by the person(s) signing the bid. If the submission does not include all the information required or is incomplete, the proposal is liable to be rejected. All submissions, including any accompanying documents, will become the property of GIC Re and the same will be subject to RTI ACT, 2005. Respondents shall be deemed to license, and grant all rights to GIC Re to reproduce the whole or any portion of their submission for the purpose of evaluation, to disclose the contents of the submission to other Respondents and to disclose and / or use the contents of the submission as the basis for any resulting EOI process, notwithstanding any copyright or other intellectual property right that may subsist in the submission of accompanying documents. Cost of Bidding Document No cost has been prescribed for the Bidding Document. One bid per bidder Each bidder shall submit only one bid for a single assignment. Late Bids Any bid received after the deadline for submission of the bids will be treated as “Late Bid” and such late bids shall not be considered at all for competitive bidding

Communication in respect of queries relating to EOI

Prospective bidders may seek clarification on the Tender document by letter/email till the date and time mentioned in the “Timeline”.

It may be noted that all queries, clarifications, questions etc., relating to this Tender Document, technical or otherwise, must be in writing only on or before 10.07.2015 and should be addressed to the nominated point of contact as mentioned below:

Mr. Alok Ranjan, AM - alokr@gifocindia.com

Mr. Vikas Pandit, DM –vikasp@gicofindia.com

Mr. Rajesh Laheri, SM - rajeshl@gicofindia.com

Ms. Latha Krishnan, AGM - lathak@gicofindia.com Common email id: acc_op@gicofindia.com GIC Re may, in its absolute discretion, seek additional information or material from any Respondents after the EOI closes and all such information and material provided must be taken to form part of that Respondent’s response. GIC Re is not obliged to provide any reasons for any such acceptance or rejection of EOI. Respondents should provide details of their contact persons, Fax, Telephone, email and full address(s) to ensure that replies to EOI could be conveyed promptly. ADHERENCE TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The Bidders who wish to submit responses to this Tender should note that they should abide (in true intent and spirit) by all the terms and conditions contained in the Tender. If the responses contain any extraneous conditions put in by the bidders, such proposals may be disqualified and may not be considered for the selection process. Notification The Firms will be shortlisted on the basis of assessment as per Technical Bids. GIC Re will notify to all short-listed Respondents in writing as soon as practicable about the outcome of their EOI. Disqualification Any form of canvassing / lobbying / influence / query regarding short listing, status, etc. will be a disqualification.

MODIFICATION AND CANCELLATION OF TENDER PROCESS: GIC Re reserves the right to modify the terms and conditions and/or cancel the tender process partly or fully at its sole discretion at any stage without assigning any reason to any of the participating bidders. ADHERENCE TO STANDARDS/ COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS The selected Bidder should adhere and comply with all the applicable laws of land, rules, regulations and guidelines prescribed by various regulatory, statutory and Government Authorities of India. Firm details to be filled in the Technical Bid:

i. Name and Address of the Firm with contact details. ii. Full name of Contact Person (s), their Contact Numbers (landline and

mobile) & E-mail ID. iii. Full Name of all Partners, with details of qualifications along with

membership No. and experience and contact details. iv. Profile of the Firm, with specific mention of all particulars like year of

establishment and Registration with ICAI and CAG. v. List of major clients, past and present, with details of nature of work

performed along with period of the same. vi. Results obtained in monetary terms in last 5 years (i.e. number of refund

orders with amount of refund). vii. Self-Attested Copy of ICAI Registration Certificate.

viii. Self-Attested Copy of C&AG Empanelment Certificate. ix. Self-Attested Copy of Balance Sheet of the Firm for the last 3 (three)

financial years. x. Self-Declaration in the enclosed format.

All the documents enclosed with the offer document to be serially numbered and duly signed and sealed by the firm or authorized partner.

SCOPE OF TAX CONSULTANCY:

The selected firm of chartered accountants would assist and advise GIC Re on the applicability and compliance of national and international taxation laws. Given below is the scope of work of the assignment:

1. Advising on routine tax matters including tax deduction at source. 2. Assisting/ advising in compilation of details required for filing the return of

income as also for assessment proceedings. 3. Representation before the Assessing Officer for the assessment proceedings and

appearing for appeals to be heard by CIT (A). 4. To assist in working out the amount payable, in each instalment, of advance tax

based on the estimates prepared by the Corporation. 5. To assist/advise in Fringe Benefit matters pertaining to earlier years. 6. To suggest the additional books/register/records to be maintained, if any, for the

tax purposes. 7. To follow-up for tax refunds and other routine issues with the concerned

authorities. 8. To advice on any changes or amendments in taxation laws concerning our

organization. 9. To assist in filing E-TDS Returns & file TDS Returns for all departments. 10. To provide opinion in various service Tax matters and prepare draft response for

the queries raised by CAG/MOF and Service Tax Authorities in this regard. 11. To assist in representation before C.O.D. if any 12. To assist in getting relief under Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements. 13. To assist in implementation of accounting standards. 14. To assist, advise & represent the Corporation in respect of International Taxation

issues. 15. To advise the Corporation for Direct Tax Code implication and implementation. 16. To provide guidance in matters relating to domestic and International Transfer

Pricing Regulations. 17. To provide opinion on legal matters pertaining to all departments of GIC Re as

and when required. 18. To advise the Corporation on any other matter as required from time to time.

Note: The scope of work mentioned above is not exhaustive and will include all other direct and indirect taxation matters as required from time to time.

ELIGIBILITY AND PRE-QUALIFICATION CRITERIA

a. The CA Firm shall be a Firm registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and also empanelled with C&AG.

b. The CA firm should have their office located within the Mumbai city limits, Mumbai.

c. The CA Firm should have gross receipt of more than ` 2.00 crore for each of the last 3 financial years prior to the date of making applications for empanelment.

d. The CA firm should have minimum 10 partners with at least 3 partners dealing with taxation matters.

e. Applicant firms must have experience of minimum 20 years in the field of Corporate Taxation (income Tax, Service Tax etc.) and other allied work. (Preference may be given to chartered Accountant firms having experience in dealing with taxation matters relating to General Insurance Industry).

f. The firm should have minimum 5 years’ experience of attending to assessment proceedings and Appeals up to level of CIT (A).

g. The firm should provide details of the results obtained in monetary terms in last 5 years (i.e. number of refund orders with amount of refund).

h. Previous track record of carrying out such assignments for other PSUs/Public Sector Banks/ Financial Institutions/General Insurance Companies etc. in the past.

i. The Firm should not be owned by any of the relatives of the GIC Re Officials. Also, none of the officials of GIC Re should have vested interest in the Applicant Firm.

j. The Firm or its partners should not possess any place of profit in GIC Re. k. The Firm should not have been prohibited /debarred/blacklisted by any

regulating Authority/Agency including IRDA, RBI, SEBI, ICAI, C&AG etc.

The information relating to each eligibility and pre-qualification criteria should be responded either with supporting documentation or declaration, whichever is applicable.

Selection Process

After the expiry of last date for submission of bids, the Technical bid will be evaluated by an In-house Committee constituted by GIC Re. Technical Capability of the bidders would be evaluated based on the following criteria and weightage:

SN Criteria Maximum Marks (weightage)

1 Number of Partners and number of years of experience in dealing with taxation matters

15

2 Gross receipt of the firm for each of the last 3 financial years prior to the date of making applications for empanelment

10

3 Knowledge and experience in carrying out assignments relating to Corporate Taxation including but not limited to general insurance industry

50

4 Results obtained in monetary terms in last 5 years (i.e. number of refund orders with amount of refund)

10

5 Previous track record of carrying out such assignments for other PSUs/Public Sector Banks/ Financial Institutions/General Insurance Companies etc. in the past.

15

Maximum Technical Score 100

All bidders scoring more than 80 marks (in Technical Criteria) will be selected as the Technically Qualified Bidder. In case, less than three bidders get more than 80 marks, the top three bidders getting the maximum marks in Technical Capability will be selected as the Technically Qualified Bidder, subject to them getting at least 70 marks.

GIC Re would accordingly form a panel of Tax consultants from the technically qualified bidders. The decision of GIC Re will be final in this regard.

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ANNEXURE I: To, General Insurance Corporation of India "Suraksha", 170, Jamshedji Tata Road, Churchgate, Mumbai - 400 020 Tel.: (Board): +91 22 2286 7000 Email: acc_op@gicofindia.com

SN Eligibility Criteria Details to be filled in by the applicant*

a. The CA Firm shall be a Firm registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and empanelled with C&AG.

b. The CA firm should have their office located within the Mumbai city limits, Mumbai.

c. The CA Firm should have gross receipt of more than ` 2.00 crore for each of the last 3 financial years prior to the date of making applications for empanelment.

d. The CA firm should have minimum 10 partners with at least 3 partners dealing with taxation matters.

e. Applicant firms must have experience of minimum 20 years in the field of Corporate Taxation (income Tax, Service Tax etc.) and other allied work. (Preference may be given to chartered Accountant firms having experience of taxation matters relating to General Insurance Industry).

f. The firm should have minimum 5 years’ experience of attending to assessment proceedings and Appeals up to level of CIT (A).

g. The firm should provide details of the results obtained in monetary terms in last 5 years (i.e. number of refund orders with amount of refund).

h. Previous track record of carrying out such assignments for other PSUs/Public Sector Banks/ Financial Institutions/General Insurance Companies etc. in the past.

i. The Firm should not be owned by any of the relatives of the GIC Re Officials. Also, none of the officials of GIC Re should have vested interest in the Applicant Firm.

j. The Firm or its partners should not possess any place of profit in GIC Re.

k. The Firm should not have been prohibited /debarred/blacklisted by any regulating Authority/Agency including IRDA, RBI, SEBI, ICAI, C&AG etc.

*All information should be complete duly supported by documentation and/or declaration. For insufficient space, if any, please use separate sheets for the purpose.

Declaration – 1. All the information provided by me/us herein above is correct. 2. I/We have no objection if enquiries are made about the work listed by

me/us in the accompanying sheets/annexure. 3. I/We have read all the terms & conditions of bid and the instructions

and these are acceptable to me/us.

Signature: --------------------------

Name & Designation of the Authorized Signatory: ---------------------

Stamp of the CA/ Firm: --------------------------

Date: ---------------- Place: ---------------

ANNEXURE II

DECLARATION

I_______________________S/O Sh.________________________ working

as__________________ in (name of the firm and firm address in full be mentioned),

hereby solemnly affirm and declare that I have been authorized by the firm to sign the

tender. I, hereby declare and certify through the firm that I have accepted all the terms

& conditions mentioned in this tender and I shall abide by all the terms & conditions of

the Expression of Interest (EOI).

Signature of Authorized Person of the firm/ Proprietor etc. with Seal & Stamp.

Place: ____________ Name: __________________________

Dated: _________________ Designation: _____________________

Membership No.______________