QCBS: how quality and cost based selection works

Technical proposals are marked first against criteria published in the tender. Only bids that reach the minimum qualifying score, which the Manual puts at normally 70 to 80 out of 100, go on to financial evaluation. Financial bids are opened only for technically qualified bidders (GFR 2017, Rule 190).

The best technical mark is scaled to 100 and the others pro rata. The lowest price is scaled to 100 and the others in inverse proportion. The two scores are weighted and added. The Consultancy Manual's worked example uses a pass mark of 75 and 70:30 weights. Three bids score 75, 80 and 90 marks and quote Rs 100, Rs 104 and Rs 106. With the scaled scores rounded to whole numbers, as the Manual does, the Rs 106 bid wins with 98.20 points against 88.10 for the cheapest. The top combined score is ranked H-1, and a tie goes to the higher technical score.

GFR 2017 Rule 192 allows QCBS for consultancy where quality is of prime concern. The tender must state the pass mark and the relative weights, and the technical weight may in no case exceed 80%. The Manual for Procurement of Consultancy Services (Second Edition, 2025) treats 70:30 as the standard split and says a different split should be examined and justified.

Works and non-consultancy services run the other way. Under the DoE office memorandum of 29 October 2021, as carried into the 2025 manuals, QCBS is allowed for works only where the procurement is declared a Quality Oriented Procurement. For non-consultancy services it is also allowed where the estimated value is up to Rs 10 crore. The non-financial weight may never exceed 30%, and QCBS is not used with reverse auction or limited tender (the Works Manual adds two-stage bidding).

A low price does not win on its own, and neither does a strong technical bid. In a 70:30 consultancy tender, quality carries most of the weight once you are past the pass mark. In a works or services tender with a 30% technical cap, price carries most of the weight, but a bid below the pass mark is still out. Read the weights and the pass mark before you price.

Do not carry L1 habits over. The Consultancy Manual says Make in India purchase preference applies where evaluation is on price alone, so it does not apply where evaluation uses non-price criteria such as QCBS (para 1.10.2). In a Quality Oriented Procurement a pre-bid meeting must be held to discuss the technical criteria and marking scheme (Non-Consultancy Services Manual, para 4.3.2), so that is where to challenge criteria. A DoE office memorandum of 22 July 2026 reiterates the Consultancy Manual's provisions on qualification and evaluation criteria (paras 7.3.3 and 8.4.2), after a sample study of consultancy tenders by Central Government buyers on GeM found high turnover requirements and more weight on the firm's experience than on key staff. It says such criteria may unduly restrict competition. The model scheme gives the firm's experience 5 to 10% of technical marks and key staff 30 to 60%.