The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (Appointment of Consultants) Regulations, 2007

Published vide Notification No. G.S.R. 36(E), 30th November, 2007

Act2240

Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board

G.S.R. 36(E). - In exercise of the powers conferred clause (c) of sub-section (2) of Section 61 of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006 (Act 19 of 2006), the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board hereby makes the following regulations, namely :- 1. Short title and commencement. - (1) These regulations may be called the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (Appointment of Consultants) Regulations, 2007. (2) These regulations shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. 2. Definition. - (1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,- (a) "Act" means Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006;

(b) "Board", means the Board constituted under, Section 3 (1) of the Act.

(d) "Consultant" includes any individual firm, body or association of persons, not in the employment of the Board, who or which possesses or has access to any specialized knowledge, experience or skill;

(e) "Individual Consultant", means any individual who possesses or has access to any specialized knowledge, experience or skill;

(f) "Institutional Consultant", means any firm, body or, association of persons which, possesses specialized knowledge, experience or skill;

(g) "Member", means a Member of the Board appointed under Section 4 of the Act;

(h) "Secretary", means the Secretary of Board appointed under Section 10 of the Act.

(2) Words or expressions occurring in these regulations and not defined herein but defined in the Act shall bear the same meaning as in the Act. (3) Unless defined herein or in the Act, the provisions of the General Clauses Act, 1897 as amended from time to time shall apply to these regulations; 3. Scope of work. - (1) Consultants will not be normally appointed for routine day to day work for which staff is available. (2) Consultants will be engaged for executing specialized tasks for which skills are either not available within the staff of the Board or where the nature of jobs is specific and time-bound. (3) Detailed terms of reference for engagement drawn up in each case and agreed to between the Consultant and the Board prior to award of consultancy. (4) The terms of reference for engagement will inter alia specify the exact nature of the tasks to be undertaken by the consultant, the time allowed for completion of each tasks and the specific outputs that are to be provided by the consultant in relation to each task. 4. Period of engagements. - Consultants will be engaged for the minimum period required. In no case will the maximum period of engagement exceed two years. 5. Selection of Institutional Consultants. - (1) Broadly, the following procedure would be adopted for the selection of Institutional Consultants :- (a) The Board will follow the two stage selection procedure i.e. Expression of Interest (EOI) stage to shortlist the Consultants followed by issuance of Request for Proposal (RFP) to short-listed Consultants.

(b) At the beginning of each year, the Board may identify the areas/sectors in which consultancy services would be required during the year. Then the Board will follow the EOI route to shortlist Consultants in each particular area/sector. Thereafter, during the course of the year, the consultant on specific issue/subject within a particular area/sector will be selected by issuing RFP to the short-listed Consultants in that area/sector. The consultant, who has submitted the lowest financial bid, shall be selected as the L1. In case the concerned Member/Secretary of Board is of the view that methodology other than this is to be used for selecting a consultant on any issue/subject for specific and valid reasons, approval of the Board will be required. However, in case of highly technical assignments, the Board may invite a fresh Expression of Interest for short-listing the Consultants.

(c) At any given point of time no consultancy firm shall be awarded more than two assignments. In case any particular consultancy firm is L1 in more than two consultancy assignments in any sector/area, then the decision of the Board shall be final for awarding any two assignments to that particular firm. No representation or communication shall be entertained in that respect by the Board from any of the consultancy firm.

(d) Further, in the exigencies of situation and in order to actually ensure the timely completion of assignments, the Board may have to award consultancy assignments to the L2 party in case of same party having L1 rating in more than two assignments. In such cases, the Board may give the option to L2 party to match the offer of L1 in that particular assignment, failing which the Board may re-tender the assignment.

(e) The type of contract with the consultant will normally be lump sum contract. In case any other form of contract is required to be entered into, approval of the Board will be required.

(f) Selection of Law firms for specific consultancy assignments shall be governed by the procedure for selection of institutional Consultants.

6. Consultancy Evaluation Committee (CEC) and Consultancy Monitoring Committee (CMC). - (1) Consultancy Evaluation Committee (CEC) : For all cases a CEC comprising of at least three persons at appropriate level including representative of Internal Finance Division, a representative of the user division and that of administration division, shall be constituted under the concerned Member/Secretary of Board with the approval of the Chairperson in order to carry out the consultant selection procedure. (2) Consultancy Monitoring Committee (CMC) : A CMC shall also be constituted similarly under the Chairpersonship of the concerned Member/Secretary of Board comprising at least three persons at appropriate level, including representative from user division, administration division with the member of the CMC from the concerned division being the convener for monitoring the progress of the assignment once the same has been assigned to a consultant. If considered appropriate all or any of the members of CEC may be selected as members of CMC. Further, Board may constitute CMC area-wise/sector-wise if felt appropriate. The CMC shall be responsible to monitor the progress of the assignment, to oversee that the assignment is carried out as per agreed terms of reference (TOR) and contractual conditions, to assess the quality of the deliverables, to accept/reject any part of assignment, to suggest the levy of appropriate liquidated damages or penalty to the concerned Member/Secretary of Board if the assignment is not carried out as per the contract and if the quality of services is found inferior and for any such deficiency related to the completion of the assignment. 7. Invitation or Expression of Interest. - (1) For all consultancy services, an advertisement called "invitation for Expression of Interest" shall be released in at least one National Newspaper and the website of the Board for preparing a short list of Consultants. Advertisement in newspapers will be brief and shall give reference to the Board's website. The advertisement shall include, among other things, the last date of submission of EOI, how to get copy of EOI document, contact information of the Board with name of contact person etc. (2) EOI document may contain the following information :- (i) Invitation to EOI : It would include a copy of the advertisement whereby Consultants are invited to submit their EOI.-

(ii) Brief about objectives and scope of work : This may include brief description about objective of carrying out the assignment, broad scope of work and expected deliverable of the assignment. This may also include the place of execution of the assignment.

(iii) Instructions to the Consultants : It may include instructions regarding nature of job; submission requirement; requirement of bid processing fees; if any; last date of submission; place of submission; and any related instructions.

(iv) Pre-qualification Criteria : This may clearly lay down the pre-qualification criteria which shall be applied by the Board for short-listing the Consultants.

(v) Formats for submission : This section would specify the format in which the Consultants are expected to submit their EOI.

The Board would make available the copies of the EOI document to the interested Consultants in hard copies as well as on its web site. The above information may generally be part of an EOI document. However, Board may decide to modify the above information appropriately on a case to case basis as per the requirements. (3) Generally, the EOI may be issued once a year at the beginning of the financial year. However, if required, it could also be issued during the course of the year depending upon the requirements at that point of time. (4) Only the institutional Consultants with their registered office in India would be eligible for applying in response to the EOL. In case international Consultants, who do not have their offices in India, are to be also considered in any particular case, approval of the Board would be required before issuing the EOI. 8. Short List or Consultants. - (1) The Consultants will be evaluated for short listing, inter-alia, based on their past experience of handling similar types of jobs, strength of their man power and technical and financial strength of the firm as per the following weightages assigned to each of the criteria in EOI :-

Sr. No.	Criteria*	Weightage
1	Past Experience of The firm	40%
	•Number of years experience	15%
	• Past Experience of studies of similar nature.	40%
	• Past experience in carrying out studies in related sectors.	20%
	• Studies carried out in India in the oil & gas sector.	25%
2	Experience of Key Personnel. (No. and details Of key personnel be given) Qualifications.	40%
	• Qualifications	25%
	• Relevant Experience	75%
3.	Financial Strength of the Consultant.	20%
	• Turnover figure for Last three Years	40%
	• Net Profit Figure for Last three years	40%
	• Net profit to turnover ratio	20%

* the cut off levels for these may be specified in the EOI document. (2) The short-listing shall be done for all the Consultants who secure the minimum required marks. The minimum qualifying requirement will be specified in the EOI document. (3) Alternatively, the Board will specify in the EOI document minimum qualifying requirement for each of the criteria i.e. minimum years of experience, minimum number of assignments executed, minimum turnover etc. Under such circumstances, the Board shall apply pass-fail test and short list all the Consultants who meet the minimum requirement as specified. (4) The Board may shortlist a minimum of 3 and upto 10 Consultants in each particular areal sector. The short list prepared shall be valid for a period of one year unless extended, by a maximum period of one year, by the Board. (5) The Consultants may be asked to make presentation about their credentials covering inter alia the criteria at sub-clause (1) above before the CEC. If required, the Consultants may also be asked to make presentation before the Chairperson/Board. 9. Terms of Reference. - (1) The general format of Terms of Reference (TOR) will be approved by the Board. Based on this format, TOR for appointment of Consultants for specific tasks will be prepared by CEC and got approved from the Chairperson. (2) The TOR will be prepared to define clearly the (i) purpose/objective of the assignment; (ii) detailed scope of work; (iii) expected input of key professionals (number of experts, kind of expertise required); (iv) proposed schedule for completing the assignment; (v) reports/deliverables required from the Consultants; (vi) procedure for review of the work of Consultant after award of contract. TOR shall provide background information including a list of existing relevant studies and basic data to facilitate the Consultants preparation of their proposals. If transfer of knowledge, training is an objective, the TOR will detail the number of staff to be trained. TOR shall list the services and surveys necessary to carry out the assignment and the expected outputs (for example reports, data, surveys etc.) linked to each task in the TOR. (3) After approval of the TOR, the CEC shall be responsible for all aspects and stages of the Consultants selection i.e. preparation of likely estimated cost for the assignment, issuance of EOI, evaluation of EOI, shortlisting of Consultants, issuance of RFP, evaluation of financial proposals, negotiations and final selection of the Consultant. Even in case of selection of Consultant by direct negotiations the CEC shall negotiate with the Consultant on financial aspects. The CEC will ensure that appropriate publicity is given in each case. The CEC shall take approval of competent authority after selecting the Consultant based on the lowest bid for a specific job. (4) The secretary will ensure that budgetary provision exists for the proposal based on the estimated cost of the proposal. 10. Request for Proposals. - (1) Request for Proposals (RFP) shall contain a letter of invitation (LOI) stating the intention of the Board to enter into a contract for provision of a consultancy service, source of funds, details of plan and date, time and submission of proposal; Instructions to Consultants (ITC); TOR; list of key positions/professionals required for the assignment; requirement of qualification and experience of the firm and of the key professional staff; criteria of bid evaluation and selection procedure; standard formats for financial proposal; proposed form of contract etc. (2) Information to Consultants shall contain all necessary information that will help Consultants prepare responsive proposals by providing information on the evaluation process and by indicating the evaluation criteria and factors and their respective weights and the minimum pre-qualification score. 11. Receipt of proposals. - (1) Enough time shall be allowed for the Consultant to prepare and submit their proposals. While the time allowed shall depend on the assignment, it will normally not be less than two weeks, during which period firms may seek clarifications about the information provided in the TOR. (2) The Board may decide to extend the deadline for the submission of proposals, as deemed appropriate by it. (3) No amendments to the proposal shall be accepted after the deadline. The proposals shall be submitted in sealed cover. (4) The Consultants may submit their proposals by electronic means using an electronic signature system or equivalent once such a system is put in operation in the Board. The Board shall maintain the confidentiality and authenticity of the proposals submitted. The system shall only allow proposals to be opened with due electronic authorization of the Consultant. 12. Evaluation of proposals. - (1) Proposals will normally be evaluated on the basis of financial bid. Where a different criteria is to be used it would only be with the approval of the Board and such a criteria would be stated in the RFP. (2) Those Consultants who have applied against the RFP shall be informed about the date and time for opening the financial proposals giving sufficient time for the Consultants to be present at the opening, should they so desire. (3) The financial proposals of the pre-qualified Consultants will be opened publicity. The proposed prices shall be read aloud and recorded in a minute of the public opening. (4) Arithmetical errors will be corrected. The cost will be converted to a single currency using uniform selling (exchange) rates. (5) The Board may reject all proposals if they are found to be unresponsive or unsuitable either because they represent major deficiencies in complying with the TOR or they involve costs, which are substantively higher than the original, cost estimates. (6) The proposal with the lowest financial bid will be selected. Where a criteria other than the financial bid has been stated in the RFP, the evaluation and selection shall be based on that criteria. 13. Selection by direct negotiation. - (1) The selection by direct negotiation/nomination shall be used under exceptional circumstance such as (a) for tasks that represent a natural continuation of previous work carried out by the firm, (b) in case of emergency situation, situation arising after natural disasters, situations where timely completion of the assignment is of utmost importance, (c) situations where the execution of assignment may involve use of proprietary techniques or only one Consultant has requisite expertise. Such selection may normally be restricted to a financial ceiling of Rs. ten lakh. [14 and 15. ***] OLD LAW 6

[14.] Proposed form of contract. - (1) The contract would include accepted TOR methodology, general and specific conditions of contract, etc. (2) The general conditions of contract would include all such conditions which are common in nature and not specific to a proposal. Such conditions may include clauses pertaining to sub contracting, methods of payment, termination and extension of contracts, arbitration, variation in quantities, indemnity and insurance, force majeure, conflict of interest, compliance to local laws and taxes and duties etc. (3) The proposal specific conditions would include clauses relating to the assignment in hand. (4) The general format for the contract, including the general conditions, will be approved by the Board. The specific conditions related to proposal will be prepared by CEC and got approved from the Chairperson. [15.] Confidentiality. - Information relating to, evaluation of proposals and recommendations concerning awards shall not be disclosed to the Consultants who submitted the proposals or to other persons not officially concerned with the process, until the award of contract is notified. [16.] Conflict of interest. - Consultants shall not be hired for any assignment that would be in conflict with their prior or current obligations to other clients or that may place them in a position of not being able to carry out the assignments objectively and impartially. [17. Procedure for selection of individual Consultants. - (1) Engagement. - The Board may engage such number of individual consultants in the fields of finance, economics, law, engineering, administration, logistics, business or such other disciplines related to the petroleum and natural gas sector as it may deem fit. (2) Functions. - The individual consultants engaged by the Board shall discharge such functions as directed by the Chairperson in assisting the Board. (3) Qualifications, experience and classification. - (a) The individual consultants to be engaged shall be classified on the basis of their qualifications and experience in the respective class as given in Schedule-I: Provided that the Board may also engage individual consultants from any other discipline as deemed necessary to assist the Board in the discharge of its functions under the Act. (b) Subject to para (a) and depending upon the qualification, specialization and experience in respective disciplines, the individual consultants shall be categorized into five levels as given in Schedule II:

Provided that consultants of the category of office support/logistics with more than ten years experience shall all be treated as of Level III and thus there shall not be Level IV and Level V for them. (4) Remuneration payable. - The remuneration to be paid by the Board to different categories of individual consultants shall be in accordance with Schedule III for professional specialists: Provided that the Board may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, agree to pay higher remuneration than those given in Schedule III or agree to pay remuneration on a per-diem basis derived from the levels given in Schedule III for part-time engagement in specially deserving cases. (5) Evaluation of performance. - The performance of each individual consultant engaged under these regulations, with reference to the tasks assigned and output delivered, shall be reviewed periodically, within such time and manner, as may be specified by the Board. (6) Procedure of selection. - (a) The individual consultants shall ordinarily be engaged by the Board on contractual basis for not less, than three months and not more than three years. [Provided that the Board in its discretion may extend the period for engagement of an individual consultant beyond three years.] (b) The Board may decide, from time to time, the number of the individual consultants to be engaged

(c) After the number to be engaged is decided, as mentioned in para (b), the Secretary shall publish the number to be engaged with details of qualifications, experience needed and the remuneration payable on the official website of the Board and invite applications for each category and level of individual consultant giving a stipulated last date for the receipt of the applications for each category and level:

Provided that the Secretary may also invite the applications by suitable public notice for each category and level: Provided further that - (i) the Board may select individual consultants in Level I through campus interview;

(ii) the Board may give option to the existing individual consultants/assistant consultants already working in the Board before the notification of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (Appointment of Consultants) Amendment Regulations, [2018] to opt for the remuneration payable and the terms and conditions as per the provisions after the commencement of the said amendment regulations without going through the selection process prescribed;

(iii) the individual consultants selected by the Board may re-apply against subsequent positions advertised or notified;

(d) The Chairperson shall constitute a selection committee for each category of individual consultant. The Board may invite eminent experts having special knowledge and experience in the relevant field to join the selection committees.

(e) The Secretary shall scrutinize the applications in accordance with these regulations and prepare lists of eligible candidates for each category to be called for interview.

(f) The selection committees mentioned in para (d) shall be convened with the approval of the Chairperson for each category and the Secretary or any other officer authorised by the Chairperson shall notify the date and the venue of the interview to the short listed eligible candidates sufficiently in advance.

(g) The recommendations of each selection committee regarding engagement for each category shall be placed by the Secretary for Chairpersons perusal and thereafter placed before the Board for a decision.

(h) On approval of the engagements by the Board as mentioned in para (g); the Secretary or any other officer authorized by the Chairperson shall inform each candidate in writing by an offer letter of engagement giving not less than fourteen days time to accept the offer of engagement.

(i) After receipt of acceptance from the selected candidates as per para (h), the Secretary or any other officer authorised by the Chairperson shall issue letter of engagement to each candidate giving not less than thirty days time to join:

Provided that the joining time may be extended by the Chairperson on being satisfied that extension is sought on circumstances beyond the control of the individual candidate. (j) The Secretary shall inform the number of selected candidates who have joined in the next meeting of the Board and obtain approval of the [Chairperson] to restart the process of selection to fill up the shortfalls, if any, in the total number of individual consultants decided to be engaged as per para (b).

(7) Terms and conditions of engagement. - (a) The individual consultant, on having accepted the offer of engagement, shall enter into a contract, also having the confidentiality clause, with the Secretary, acting on behalf of the Board, detailing the terms and conditions of engagement before being assigned any work. (b) The terms and conditions of engagement may be modified, in a specific case, where the Board deems it necessary.

(c) Without prejudice and in addition to the legal remedies available to the Board, the breach of agreement executed under para (a) by or on behalf of any individual consultant shall be considered a sufficient ground for termination of the engagement made under contract and may further debar such individual consultant from future engagement by the Board.

(d) The selected individual consultants shall be on probation for a period of six months. Based on their performance during the probation period, the appointment of the individual consultant may be confirmed by the Board for the balance period.

(e) In case the selected individual consultants desire to withdraw from the consultancy services, they may do so by giving three months notice. However, the Board reserves the right to terminate or curtail the consultancy period without assigning any reason by giving similar notice of three months.]

[18.] Saving of inherent power of the Board. - Nothing in these provisions shall bar the Board from adopting a procedure which is at variance with any of the provisions of these Regulations, if the Board, in view of the special circumstances of the matter or class of matters and for reasons to be recorded in writing, deems it necessary or expedient to depart from the procedure prescribed in the regulations. [19.] General power to amend. - The Board may at any time and on such terms as it may think fit amend any provisions of these regulations for the purpose of meeting the objectives with which these Regulations have been framed. [20.] Power to remove difficulties. - If any difficulty arises in giving effect to any of the provisions of these regulations the Board may, by general or special order, do anything not being inconsistent with the provisions of the Act, which appears to it to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of removing the difficulties.

[Schedule I]

Class of Individual Consultant	Qualifications	Experience
Commercial	MBA (Finance), Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant or Masters degree in Economics/Commerce/Operations Research or equivalent from a recognized university or institution	(a) Experience in development/ formulation of regulations; or (b)Computation of pipeline transportation tariffs, pricing and other concerned commercial and financial issues related to the oil and gas sector; or (c) Detailed analysis of annual accounts of firms, loan appraisals for large projects as done by the banks/financial institutions; or (d)Experience of appraisal of large projects in the fields of oil and gas production, processing, transportation, storage, terminal operation, distribution, marketing, etc. Desirable: (i) Previous exposure to Competition Law (ii) Membership of Institute of Company Secretaries
Law	Law Degree from recognized University / Law School	Experience in infrastructure sector on: (a)Drafting/vetting regulations, statutes and/or legislations; or (b) dealing with Courts/Appellate Tribunals matters; or (c) Settling disputes/arbitration Desirable: Previous exposure to Competition Law
Infrastructure	Graduate Degree in Engineering/Masters degree in Science/Economics/Operations Research or equivalent from a recognized university or institution.	(a) Experience of techno-economic project appraisal/evaluation/choice of project involving large investments in the field of oil and gas pipelines, storage capacities, marketing infrastructure/city gas distribution etc.; or (b)Experience in development/formulation of regulations or familiarity with latest technological developments in the oil and gas sector; or (c) Experience in setting up of city gas distribution network, its operation and maintenance; or (d) Experience in operation and maintenance of oil and gas pipelines; or (e) Experience in drafting of technical standards/safety codes pertaining to oil and gas pipelines and installations. Desirable: Previous exposure to Competition Law
Distribution	Graduate Degree in Engineering, MBA in marketing, Masters degree in Science/Economics/Operations Research or equivalent from a recognized university or institution.	(a) Experience in policy formulation in the Government in the marketing and distribution of petroleum products/natural gas; or (b) Experience in development/formulation of regulations in the oil and gas sector; or (c) Familiarity with latest technological ,developments in the marketing of oil and gas; or (d) Experience in fostering consume (interest in infrastructure. Desirable: Previous exposure to Competition Law
Office/Logistic Support	Graduate degree from a duly recognized University in India with consistent excellent academic record	Office Secretary/Personal Staff with experience in MS Office and other internet applications, preparation of power point presentations
Any other sector	Graduate degree from a duly recognized University in India in the relevant field consistent excellent academic record	(a) having worked at senior level position in the infrastructure sector ; or (b) Recognition as an expert in the relevant sector either through publication of articles or awards or public acclaim; Or (c) Professor/Reader/Lecturer of Business Management of any recognized University/Professional institute of India or abroad; or (d) HR. professionals with experience in identifying sources for capacity building/training. Desirable: Previous exposure to Competition Law

[Schedule II]

Category of Individual Consultant	Preferred experience in years
Level I	Upto five years
Level II	More than five to ten years
Level III	More than ten to fifteen years
Level IV	More than fifteen to twenty years
Level V	More than Twenty years

[Schedule III]

Level of Individual Consultant	Lump sum monthly remuneration
I	L 50,000 with 10 per-cent increase on completion of each year
II	L 75,000 with 10 per-cent increase on completion of each year,
III	L 1,00,000 with 10 per-cent increase on completion of each year.
IV	L 1,10,000 with 10 per-cent increase on completion of each year.
V	L 1,30,000 with 10 per-cent increase on completion of each year.