Delhi High Court upholds UIDAI decision to disqualify bidder for Aadhaar enrolment audit due to abnormally low bid
Court affirms that an abnormally low bid alone is insufficient for rejection but supports UIDAI as no other bidder matched the rate
The Delhi High Court has upheld the Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) decision to disqualify Writer Business Services Pvt Ltd, the lowest bidder, from the audit and quality check contract for Aadhaar enrolment and update applications. The dispute arose over UIDAI rejecting the bid for being abnormally low.
The Court clarified that while an “abnormally low bid” is not in itself a conclusive ground for disqualification, UIDAI was justified because no other shortlisted vendor was willing to match the rate quoted by Writer Business Services. This supported UIDAI’s approach, ensuring fairness and feasibility in awarding the contract.
The judgment confirms UIDAI’s discretion to assess reliability alongside pricing in procurement processes related to critical national projects like Aadhaar.