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Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) is on the negotiating table with bidders to meet its target of procuring 10 lakh point-of-sale (PoS) machines.
The PSU had called for bids to procure 7 lakh mobile and 3 lakh regular (fixed) PoS machines on December 1. But, the lowest (L1) bidder was willing to offer only 50,000 machines in each category, while L2 was willing to offer 7 lakh at a higher cost for mobile PoS. EESL is now negotiating with L2 in the mobile PoS category to bridge the gap.
According to officials overseeing the bid process, the L1 for both mobile and fixed PoS machines, Ingenico, has committed to provide 50,000 mobile PoS machines at ₹3,100 each and another 50,000 fixed PoS machines at ₹6,000 each. Therefore, to meet the requirement of remaining 9 lakh machines, EESL would have to rope in another player.
MSwipe, the L2 for mobile PoS machines, has committed to supply 7 lakh instruments at ₹5,200 each. Since the L2 is offering to supply 7 lakh machines, EESL is negotiating with it to bring down the costs or match the L1.
The third player in the race, Verifone, has offered a price of ₹9,000 per machine for supplying 50,000 fixed PoS machines. It is the L2 bidder in the fixed category. Here again EESL is faced with a deficit for 2 lakh machines.
Arm-twistingBoosted by the sudden demand for PoS machines following the Centre’s digital transactions push, manufacturers appear to be arm-twisting EESL into procuring machines at higher prices. EESL had budgeted less than ₹7,000 and ₹3,000 respectively for regular and mobile PoS machines.
EESL is in talks with all banks to enable the distribution of these machines. The banks will act as merchants for the machines acquired through this tender, said an official. This is the largest tender for PoS machines in the world and EESL’s success in this tender would mean practically doubling the number of PoS machines in the country.
India currently has 14 lakh PoS machines, of which only 50,000 are mobile.
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