ONGC brings down contractual complaints

New Delhi, Nov 16 (UNI) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) has brought down the number of contractual complaints mainly due to its adoption of the Integrity Pact(IP) last year.

ONGC is the first company in India, public and private combined, to have adopted the Integrity pact, to institutionalise transparency in its procurement practices.

ONGC's CMD R S Sharma told the Central Vigilance Commissioner that ONGC took cognizance of the vendors' suggestions through its website before the Integrity Pact was finalised for implementation.

Admiral Ram Tahiliani, Chairman of Transparency International (India) said, ''I am absolutely delighted to see ONGC implement the Integrity Pact successfully.'' Mr Tahiliani added that adoption of such measures would also improve bottom-line of organisations.

IP is a tool devised by Transparency International (TI) in the 1990s to fight corruption in public contracting. It contributes to improve the credibility of public procedures and administration.

The Integrity Pact begins when a bidder submits an Expression of Interest (EoI) or purchases the bid document (ONGC countersigns the IP) and would end after the execution of the contract when all payments are made to the satisfaction of both the contacting parties.

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