Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal cautions against collusion on Govt e-Marketplace GeM

Union Minister Piyush Goyal (File image)

Union Minister Piyush Goyal, while reviewing the functioning of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), warned officials on November 3 to watch out for business malpractices like 'cartelisation and collusion' and suggested the GeM team to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to avoid them.

The Minister for Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said AI would further simplify the system and as the volume of operations grow, AI would be needed to bring the most appropriate buyers and sellers together for transactions, according to a government statement.

Goyal asked for bringing more transparency to the system and added that operations should be audited regularly to ensure that all technical and financial aspects of GeM stay strong all the time.

He also asked officials to make GeM more user and commerce friendly so that ease of doing business can be further promoted. Officials were also directed to significantly reduce and cap the transaction charges so that more traders are attracted to the GeM portal.

The GeM is a 100% government-owned company set up under the aegis of Department of Commerce for procurement of goods and services by Central and State Government organizations. The portal provides trade in 16,456 products and 206 Service categories.

Goyal was also informed that the pilot project to integrate GeM with the Indian Railways E-Procurement System (IREPS) will be launched by next month while the process of integrating GeM with India Post and Ministry of Panchayati Raj is in progress, the statement added.

Meanwhile, the minister asked the authorities to wrap up the pending audit by the Directorate of Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC).