Indian railway Multi Purpose Stall (MPS) Policy

Indian railway Multi Purpose Stall (MPS) Policy

Multi Purpose Stall (MPS) Policy

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
RAILWAY BOARD

No. 2015/TG-III/ 461 /2

New Delhi, dated 05/09/2017

The General Managers,
All Indian Railways.

The CMD,
KRCL,
Belapur House,
Navi Mumbai.

(Commercial Circular No. 61 of 2017)

Sub: Multi Purpose Stall (MPS) Policy

Pursuant to Announcement made in Rail Budget 2016-17, in order to have a single outlet/stall at platform from where passengers can purchase non­catering items required during travelling, a new policy on Multi Purpose Stalls is necessitated. The objective is to facilitate the passengers to buy items required during the travel under one roof and simultaneously ensuring decongestion of platforms by optimum utilization of the available space on stations and platforms.

1. SCALE OF MULTI PURPOSE STALL AND ITEMS PERMITTED FOR SALE

1.1 All Miscellaneous/curio stalls, bookstalls (other than philanthropic), chemist stalls/corners will come under Multi Purpose Stalls.

1.2 Items permitted for sale at Multi Purpose Stalls are miscellaneous items that satisfy the travelling needs of passengers including artifacts and items of local and regional importance, PAD items (Proprietary Article Depot) as per the extant procedure of Zonal Railway, PDW (Packaged Drinking Water) as per instructions issued vide Board’s letter no. 2015/TG- III/631/8 dated 12/02/2016 and revised from time to time, books/magazines/news paper, chemist stall items-OTC medicines and non-pharmacy items viz. dry/spray milk powder etc. Zonal Railways shall ensure that all MPS stalls must display and sell books pertaining to Indian Tradition, Culture, Values, Morals and History. It shall be mandatory for them to sell and display prominently the Zonal Railway Time Table and Trains at a Glance’ and any other official publications as may be mandated by the Zonal Railway or division from time to time.

1.3 The Licensee shall not sell items banned for sale by any Government Authority in Railway premises. If sale of unauthorized/banned/offensive items is detected in contravention to the approved items, Railway administration shall take appropriate and necessary penal action against the licensees of the MPS as per the Railways Act.

1.4      SCALE OF MULTI PURPOSE STALLS

1.4.1   A blueprint of the total requirement of the MPS platform/station wise for the whole Division shall be prepared with the approval of DRM of the concerned Division and forwarded for intimation of the concerned CCMs prior to invitation of bids. Instructions issued by Railway Board from time to time regarding banned stations, shall be adhered to.

1.4.2   Number of Multi Purpose Stalls at platforms and other railway premises, number of persons to be deployed on each MPS for assistance to the licensee in carrying out business activity will be decided by Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) at all category of stations with the approval of CCMs of their respective railways, duly taking into consideration the availability of space ensuring decongestion of stations. However, the persons deployed at MPS shall not claim any right against railways. The location of such stalls on the platforms should be positioned in such a manner that they do not hamper the free flow of passengers at the station.

2. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

2.1 Retailers/Individuals/Self Help Groups (SHGs)/ registered sole proprietorship firm or a partnership firm/Company incorporated under Partnership Act 1932/Companies Act 1956 with amendments shall be eligible to participate in the allotment process. The bidders will submit certificates in this regard.

2.2 In addition to Aadhar Card of the sole proprietor/partner/director, as the case may be, Government approved identity proof and residence proof such as PAN/Voter ID to ensure genuineness of the bidder and VAT registration, if required.

2.3 Affidavit from the bidders stating that there is no pending dues of railways against them, no debarment of the bidder by the railways and there is no conviction of the bidder in any criminal case by the court.

3. SYSTEM FOR AWARD OF LICENCE

3.1 Allotment of Multi Purpose Stalls at all category of stations will be done by e-tendering method. Till the finalization of e-tendering module and issuance of procedure order by Railway Board normal tendering process shall be followed.

3.2 Financial bids shall be called for from the qualified bidders who fulfill the above eligibility criteria. License shall be awarded to the highest bidder as per the extant procedure of e-tendering/tendering.

3.3 For allotment of reserved units of MPS, the above procedure of e- tendering/tendering shall be followed within the similar reserved category.

3.4 A committee of CCM/Catg. & PS of four Zonal Railways (SR, NR, ER & WR), where Southern Railway shall be the nodal railway, shall prepare a draft tender document to be executed between all Zonal Railways and Licensees based on the guidelines of this policy. The tender document and agreement so prepared and vetted by Associate Finance of the Southern Railway shall be finalized by Railway Board.

4. EARNEST MONEY DEPOSIT (EMD) AND SECURITY DEPOSIT (SD)

4.1. EMD shall be fixed as 10% of the Minimum Reserve Price to be submitted for participation in the process of e-tender/tender. EMD of the successful bidders shall be adjusted against Security Deposit and will be refunded in case of unsuccessful bidders. In case of withdrawal of application by the successful bidder, the EMD shall be forfeited. Security Deposit shall be fixed as 10% of the quoted license fee for the contract period.

5. TENURE

Allotment of all MPS shall be made for a period of only 5 years at all categories of stations subject to fulfillment of mutually agreed terms & conditions. There shall be no extension and renewal of the MPS units. However, the licensee can participate in the fresh bid, if otherwise eligible.

6. FIXATION AND PAYMENT OF LICENCE FEE

6.1 Station-wise minimum license fees for 5 years for all MPS shall be fixed realistically by the Divisions based on the SAG formula fixed by Zonal Headquarters taking into account following factors; (i) category of station, (ii) number of originating passengers, (iii) number of trains stopping (iv) approximate license fees of other existing stalls at a similar category of station (v) purchasing power, (vi) prevailing market rate or rent, and (vii) circle rates of the State Government as fixed and notified from time to time (viii) various taxes payable by the licensee to State/Central Govts. Zonal Railways shall evolve a formula based on the above parameters for fixing minimum license fees for the MPS falling within their jurisdiction. Apart from the above, CCMs of zonal railways may include and consider any other factor/s unique to the MPS including location. The Minimum License Fee so fixed shall not be less than 12% of the estimated sales turnover for the corresponding period.

6.2 Annual license fee shall be paid 15 days in advance for each year. The license fee shall be the same for the first 3 years of the contract and shall be enhanced by 10% for each of the remaining 2 years./Illustration: Annual License Fee Rs. X for year 1 to 3. For 4^th year, it shall be Rs. X + 10X/100 = 1.1X and for the 5^th year it will be 1.2 IX]. In case of unsatisfactory performance or non-payment of dues or arrears, if any, contract may be cancelled.

6.3 In addition to the license fee, the licensee shall pay the electricity charges on actual consumption basis. Any tax, if required to be paid, shall be paid by the licensee.

7. TENDER COMMITTEE

7.1 Standing Tender Committee for dealing with MPS tenders shall comprise of three members, one of whom will be from Commercial and other from Accounts department. The third member of the Committee shall be nominated by the accepting authority with the approval of DRM. The Accepting Authority shall be of minimum JA Grade level/Sr Scale in­charge.

7.2 For allotment of MPS at Al, A, B 85 C category of stations the Tender Committee should be minimum of Senior Scale level and for allotment of MPS at D, E 85 F category of stations the Tender Committee should be minimum be of Junior Scale level.

7.3 Reserve price, brief note and comparative statement should be vetted by Finance to facilitate the Tender committee.

7.4 Any amendment in the SoP of the Zonal Railway shall be carried out with the approval of the Competent Authority (General Manager).

8. DESIGN AND SPECIFICATION

8.1 In order to ensure uniformity, decongestion of the circulating area & optimum utilization of the platform space, each zonal railway, with the approval of CCM, shall fix the area/space along with standardized design for MPS prior to notification for allotment, taking into consideration the number of trains and passengers, width of platform, location of the unit on platform and availability of space to avoid inconvenience to passengers.

8.2 Fixed area/space, size 85 dimensions, detailed specification, location of the unit to be notified with the bid notification.

9. RESERVATION IN ALLOTMENT:

9.1 RESERVATION AT Al, A, B & C CATEGORY OF STATIONS

9.1.1    There shall be 25% reservation for MPS at Al, A, B 8& C categories of

stations with the following break up.

S.No.	Category	%age reservation
1.	Scheduled Caste	6%
2.	Scheduled Tribes	4%
3.	Other Backward Classes	3%
4.	Minorities *	3%
5.	Divyang	2%
6.	Freedom Fighters/war widows and widows of railway employees, persons who have been dislocated/ displaced due to their land having been taken over by the railways for its own use	4%
7.	People below Poverty Line	3%
	Total	25%
* the term minorities will include the communities as specified by the Constitution of India

9.2 RESERVATION IN D, E & F CATEGORY:

There shall be 49.5% reservation for allotment at D, E & F categories of stations with following break up.

S.No.	Category	%age reservation
1.	Scheduled Caste	12%
2.	Scheduled Tribes	8%
3.	Other Backward Classes	20%
4.	Minorities *	9.5%
	Total	49.5%**
* the term minorities will include the communities as specified by the Constitution of India.
** Out of this 49.5%, there will be sub quota of 10% for freedom fighters 8s war widows 8s widows of Railway employees and another sub quota of 2 % will be for physically challenged people. Within 49.5% of total reservation 2% sub quota will be provided to the persons who have been dislocated/ displaced due to their land having been taken over by the railways for its own use.
The sub quota of 10% for freedom fighters 85 war widows 85 widows of Railway employees; sub quota of 2% for physically 85 mentally challenged people will also apply in the general category of 50.5%.

9.3 There shall be a provision of 33% sub quota for women in allotment of each of the reserved category of MPS at all category of stations. The sub quota of 33% for women will also apply in general category.

9.4 For the purpose of reservation, one division will be considered as one unit for which a onetime station-wise exercise will be done for the whole division and reservation percentage will be progressively achieved.

10. CEILING LIMIT

No firm/Company/ Individual /Retailer will be allowed to hold more than five MPS per Division. However, a firm/Company/Individual can hold a maximum of 10 Multi Purpose Stalls over each Zonal Railway. Zonal Railways shall observe due diligence while scrutinizing the particulars of individuals/partnership firms/companies, common residences/office addresses, common office bearers etc. so that prospective bidders may not circumvent the ceiling limit provisions.

11. Applicability of this policy on the existing stalls.

11.1    No new allotment, renewal, extension of the Bookstall/table (other than philanthropic), Misc. Stalls/trolley, Chemist Stalls/corner etc. shall be done by the railways as of now. All such existing stalls/trolley etc. shall be allowed for conversion into MPS as per the provisions of this policy. However, in case they do not opt for conversion into MPS, the same may be allowed to continue till expiiy of the existing agreement/arrangement in

11.2    After expiry of the current agreement period, space shall be standardized, identified and allotted by Zonal Railways for new MPS as per the extant procedure.

11.3    The existing Bookstall/table (other than philanthropic), Misc. Stalls/trolley, Chemist Stalls/corner etc shall be given an option to convert to MPS subject to payment of Licence Fee as quoted by the prospective bidder for similarly placed MPS unit at the station/platform. The tenure of 5 years shall commence from the date of conversion of existing stall into MPS.

11.4    The one-time division-wise exercise of providing option of conversion to existing licensees and conversion of existing stalls into MPS shall be completed by the Divisions within 90 days from the date of issue of this policy.

11.5    This Multi Purpose Stall policy will be applicable with immediate effect i.e. from the date of issue. This policy supersedes Misc. Article Policy 2012, Chemist Stall Policy 2000 8s 2008 and Bookstall Policies of 2004 and their related instructions, unless specifically referred to in this policy document.

12. ALLOTMENT OF BOOKSTALLS TO PHILANTHROPIC ORGANISATIONS

Allotment of bookstalls to philanthropic organizations, being out of the purview of this policy, shall continue to be governed by relevant provisions of extant policy guidelines issued by Railway Board from time to time with regard to eligibility, allotment, fixation of license fee, tenure etc. of philanthropic organizations.

13. ISSUE OF IDENTITY CARDS

The staff/vendor/salesman must hold and carry Identity Card/authority issued by Divisions for entry into railways premises. The staff of the licensee will carry valid authority and medical fitness certificate to be issued by the Railway on the request of the Licensee.

14. TERMINATION OF LICENSE

In the events of default/material breach/ any failure at any time on the part of the licensee to run the MPS as per the provisions of this policy and laid down terms and conditions of the license, Division shall take appropriate necessary action including termination of contract.

15. WASTE MANAGEMENT

Zonal Railways shall ensure compliance of instructions on waste management already issued vide Commercial Circular No. 45/2011 dated 13/09/2011 and instructions issued in this regard from time to time. The licensee shall also follow instructions and directions of Court orders as required from time to time.

16. TRANSFER OF LICENSE

Transfer of license to the legal heir would be allowed only in the event of death of the original licensee. Nomination of the legal heir should be obtained from the license holder at the time of entering into contract. The nomination should be only from amongst the family members. The legal heirs of the licensee shall submit the death certificate and request for transfer to Railways within 3 months of such incident. The license can be transferred in the name of legal heir for the unexpired period of the contract/agreement only, with personal approval of Divisional Railway Manager.

17. GENERAL CONDITIONS

17.1    It shall be mandatory for each MPS licensee to have a POS/Swipe Machine for acceptance of credit/debit cards from all customers without charging any additional transaction charge, for any sale above ?100/-. For amounts below ?100/-, payments through e-wallet should be acceptable.

17.2    No platform vending shall be permissible to MPS licensees. Accordingly, no new license for trolley/table etc. shall be awarded.

18. ARBITRATION

Contract agreement should have arbitration clause. In case of any dispute, difference, or question arising between Railways and the licensee as to the respective rights, duties, obligations of the parties hereto or as to the construction or interpretation of any of the terms and conditions of the agreement or as to its application, GMs of the Zonal Railways shall be nominating authority as per GCC of the railways. The disputes referred for arbitration shall be dealt as per the procedure laid down in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996, as amended from time to time.

This issues with the concurrence of Finance Directorate of Ministry of Railways.

Kindly acknowledge receipt of this letter.

Sd/
(Smita Rawat)
Executive Director (Tourism & Catering)
Railway Board

Source : http://www.indianrailways.gov.in