Tender, Contract, and Procurement RTIs — A PIO Playbook

• §8(1)(d) — commercial confidence, trade secrets, intellectual property, unless larger public interest.
• §8(1)(j) — personal data of bidders/employees.
• §4(1)(b)(xi) — proactive disclosure of contracts entered into.
• §8(2) — public-interest override.
• §10 — severability.
• §11 — third-party (bidder) notice.
• CVC / GFR norms — transparent tendering; post-award disclosure is the default practice.

1. Step 1. Is the tender live or awarded? Temporal test drives most outcomes.
2. Step 2. For live-bid requests, deny under §8(1)(d) with specific bid-reference; consider limited procedural disclosure (NIT, eligibility criteria).
3. Step 3. Post-award, default to disclosure with §10 redactions for PII and genuine trade secrets.
4. Step 4. §11 notice to the bidder(s) whose commercial data is implicated.
5. Step 5. §8(2) balancing — public spending is a high-weight public interest.
6. Step 6. Draft speaking reply with clear temporal reference.

The RTI seeks documents relating to Tender No. XXX awarded to Contractor Y on DD-MM-YYYY for [work description]. The tender is awarded; live-bid confidentiality no longer applies.

Enclosed at Annexure A–F:
(a) NIT
(b) Eligibility criteria
(c) Bids received (comparative statement)
(d) L1-award justification memo
(e) Signed contract
(f) Bill of Quantities

Redactions under §10:
- PAN / bank account of contractor — §8(1)(j)
- Proprietary rate formulas submitted by non-winning bidders — §8(1)(d)
- Employee-roster personal data — §8(1)(j)

Section 11 notice was issued to Contractor Y and the non-winning bidders; objections considered; no sustainable objection to post-award disclosure.

Fee calculation: Rs. 2/page × __ pages = Rs. ____.

First-appeal rights preserved.

The RTI seeks bid documents for Tender No. XXX, which is currently in the evaluation stage (last date DD-MM-YYYY).

Under Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act, 2005, commercial confidence attaches to bids during the live evaluation cycle. Disclosure would prejudice the bidders' commercial interests and the integrity of the tender process.

Section 8(2) balancing applied; no public interest has been pleaded that overrides the live-bid protection.

A fresh application may be made after the tender award. The post-award disclosure framework will apply at that stage.

Yours faithfully,
[PIO block]

• Running-bill register for a completed road. Disclose; classic transparency.
• Bank-guarantee details for a PBG invoked. Institutional portion disclosable; financial details may be partially redacted.
• List of bidders who participated. Disclose post-award; during bid, §8(1)(d).
• Contractor blacklisting file. Disclose post-decision; redact personal correspondence.
• Consultancy contract with a private firm. Disclose; public money.
• Defence-procurement tender. §8(1)(a) security overlay — case-by-case.

• CIC orders on CVC-compliant post-award disclosure — consistent line.
• Delhi HC on PBG and running bills — disclosable as public-spending records.
• Bhagat Singh v. CIC (2008) — speaking order required for §8 refusals.

• Citing §8(1)(d) post-award without specific trade-secret identification.
• Refusing the entire tender file when only bid-specific portions are exempt.
• Missing §11 notice to non-winning bidders.
• Releasing contractor's PAN and bank account.
• Treating CVC circulars as RTI-exempt — they aren't.

• Publish major contracts under §4(1)(b)(xi) — pre-empts most RTIs.
• Maintain a tender-stage register — “live / evaluation / awarded” — helps fast classification.
• Coordinate with the engineering wing on what constitutes proprietary data before refusing.
• Standard redaction template for PAN / bank / personal addresses.

Q1. Can a non-winning bidder RTI the winner's bid?
Post-award, yes — commercial-confidence portions redacted. Pre-award, no.

Q2. Is BoQ post-award a trade secret?
Generally no — it's the priced-scope of the contract. Proprietary formulas that feed into BoQ may be.

Q3. Can a competing firm use RTI to get a competitor's bid?
§11 notice allows the competitor to object; §8(1)(d) remains available for genuinely proprietary elements.

Q4. Must PBG amount be disclosed?
Amount yes (institutional); bank-branch account details — partial under §8(1)(j).

Tender RTIs reward temporal clarity. Live-bid protection is narrow and time-bound. Post-award disclosure, with disciplined §10 redactions, is the default. Public spending demands it.

• Section 8(1)(j) framework
• Section 8(1)(e) framework
• Section 10 severability
• Section 11 third-party notice
• PIO & FAA knowledge base

• RTI Act, 2005, §§8(1)(d), (j), 10, 11
• CVC Tender Manual and GFR
• CIC orders on post-award disclosure

Last reviewed: 21 April 2026.