Quality compliance with the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is a lot more than just paper. With over 80 lakh sellers and procurement of more than Rs 5 lakh crore, GeM has established a very robust quality assurance framework as of 2025. If you are selling products through GeM, one of the critical elements of your success will be understanding the compliance requirements for continuing your business and obtaining contracts.
The GeM has evolved from the basic verification of vendors to a complete quality system encompassing vendor evaluation, mandatory certification, and strict performance monitoring. Vendors who do not comply with GeM requirements will have their product listings rejected, accounts suspended, or be delisted. Here we detail exactly how to be compliant.
Understanding GeM's Quality Assurance Philosophy
The GeM quality framework operates under one fundamental guideline: only verified sellers who provide high-quality and legitimate product data can sell to government buyers. Verification from third-party entities, including physical inspection and ongoing monitoring, is required.
The platform utilizes a multi-tiered verification process, which begins with verification of a seller's initial registration information (GST, PAN, Udyam) against the government's database in real time. The verification process continues with item-level verification (categories of products require BIS or ISI certification), considered a separate section of the verification process; verification of vendors as "OEMs"; and lastly, ongoing monitoring of vendors through buyer feedback, ratings, and delivery timelines.
The system functions based on facts, not theory. Sellers that consistently receive low ratings will experience reduced exposure on searches. Sellers who receive multiple complaints regarding items for quality will be put through a review process. Sellers that list counterfeit goods or inaccurate specifications will be permanently banned, and the information will be shared with all government procurement systems.
The Mandatory Vendor Assessment: What OEMs Must Know
If you're a manufacturer that is showing products in the Q1 or Q2 category through GeM (Govt E Marketplace), the vendor assessment process, which is controlled by RITES (Rail India Technical and Economic Service), is mandatory.
The assessment will be done in two phases . The first step is to complete the "desktop" review. The RITES auditors will go over your documentation from their off-site location and confirm your company registration, GST documents, financial statements, and Q/Cs, i.e., ISO 9001, manufacturing licenses, and other product-specific requirements where applicable, etc.
Phase 1 takes approximately 7 to 10 days if your documentation is correct, complete, and accurate. However, many sellers continue to be delayed because their documentation does not agree across different systems. For example,
The next step in the assessment process involves video assessment. RITES officials will conduct a video inspection of your manufacturing facility using a mobile application with geolocation features. The video assessment will allow RITES officials to visually confirm your production floor and suppliers of raw materials and to inspect your quality assurance equipment and the inventory of your finished goods and packing areas. RITES will also check the capacity of your machinery against claims within your application and ensure compliance with safety and environmental regulations.
These factors cannot be "created." The use of geolocation technology will confirm that you are at the site of the factory as stated. Because the video assessment is conducted live, you must have machinery in operation, you must have quality control processes in place that are visible to the video viewer, and your employees must be available to demonstrate how your production process works. Sellers trying to use facilities that they do not own or trying to present "staged" situations will be identified and disqualified immediately.
The overall cost of the vendor assessment ranges from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000, depending on the type of vendor and size of the business. The fee is payable to RITES. The assessment remains valid for three years. After three years, a new assessment will be required. Once you are approved, the assessment results become part of your seller profile, which significantly enhances credibility and attractiveness to government buyers.
Who Gets Exemption from Vendor Assessment
Various categories of sellers, particularly small, women-owned, and socially and economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs and those providing special services, have different compliance requirements than larger sellers.
Sellers in specific categories as defined by GeM are exempted if they have completed third-party verification through credible agencies; other sellers meeting specific criteria may also qualify for exemption from the RITES assessment.
For example, Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and government organizations are automatically exempt from completing a RITES evaluation. Private sellers with annual sales exceeding ₹ 500 crores are also exempt; however, to qualify for exemption, they must provide audited financial statements confirming their annual sales.
Also, sellers who have a current Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) license (a certified license) for a given set of product categories will be exempt from having to complete a RITES evaluation for three (3) years from the date of issuance of their BIS license. The BIS license is verified against the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) database. When listing on GeM, GeM automatically verifies the existence of the seller's BIS license. If, at any time, a seller's BIS license is cancelled or expired, the seller is required to notify GeM immediately. A failure to notify GeM will result in the withdrawal of the seller's exemption and delisting of their products.
Sellers who are Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and registered with the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) for a given product category will be exempt from having to complete an RITES evaluation as long as their NSIC certificate is valid. In addition to sellers with an NSIC certificate, sellers with Unique Certification Codes (UCC) issued by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), the Ordnance Factories Board (OFB), or the Scientific Industrial Technology Research Institute of India (SITRA) will be exempt from completing an RITES evaluation as long as their UCC licenses are valid.
BIS Certification: The Quality Benchmark You Cannot Ignore
The importance of BIS certification for GeM compliance has only grown, starting in 2025. The mandatory BIS certification through Quality Control Orders has been extended to over 100 product categories, and the list continues to grow.
If your product falls under a QCO, then you will not be able to list it for sale on the GeM website without a valid BIS certification. The GeM website uses automated checks to determine whether an item's listing meets compliance requirements, and if it does not, that item's listing will not be accepted. Even if you can create an item listing for a product that does not yet have a BIS certification, government buyers are increasingly using search filters to narrow their search results down to items that do have BIS certification, so you would end up missing out on possible buyers.
There are two types of certification options offered by BIS that are applicable to sellers wishing to sell their items via GeM. The Compulsory Registration Scheme applies to products manufactured outside of India (for example, electronics, electrical equipment, and telecommunication equipment), and it will be a requirement for BIS registration before importing or selling those products within India.
CML (Certificate of License) pertains to products made in India and requires domestic manufacturers to submit an application and submit for inspection by the BIS before they can manufacture and sell their products. Manufacturers must also be aware of whether their product category falls under mandatory BIS certification before submitting for a CML.
The process for obtaining BIS certification is lengthy. Manufacturers should plan accordingly because it usually takes between approximately two and four months from the date of submission of a manufacturer's application until the issuance of BIS certification, which will include verification of all relevant documents and final review of their factory inspection report by BIS personnel. Manufacturers often underestimate how much time they should allocate for obtaining BIS certification before they can fulfill customer orders due to not being able to obtain their certification.
BIS certification does not last forever. CML certs must be renewed on an annual basis and require factory inspections each time a renewal is required. Furthermore, in addition to conducting annual factory inspections, BIS conducts unannounced market surveillance inspections, and if any of its verified products fail to pass its random inspections or market surveillance checks after receiving their initial BIS certification, BIS reserves the right to suspend or revoke manufacturers' licenses to use the CML. Therefore, maintaining adequate quality control measures at all times throughout the manufacturing process is critical for all manufacturers who want to maintain their ability to sell their products using CML's credentials.
Product-Specific Compliance: Know Your Category Requirements
The compliance requirements for GeM product categories can differ greatly from each other. One major mistake sellers commonly make is believing that all compliance types within the category will be treated equally. For example, electronics and IT hardware tend to have some of the most stringent compliance requirements.
Most electronic devices require a BIS-CRS certificate, an EPR registration for e-waste management under Regulations (2022), an ISI mark when applicable, and an energy efficiency star rating if applicable for IT products being sold and/or rented. Laptops, desktops, monitors, printers, and servers typically require full compliance (certification) before they can be listed on GeM.
Electrical items, including switches, cables, fuses, circuit breakers, etc., all require BIS certification against that specific Indian standard, which means that when selling electrical items, you must adhere to the relevant safety standards as well as those for electromagnetic compatibility, or else you will violate the relevant law.
Depending on the classification of medical equipment or healthcare products listed on GeM (Government e-Marketplace), the requisite clearance will come from the CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organization). You must submit (minimum) registration of Class A and B type devices for approval to sell them in India. However, before placing a Class C and D type device on the market in India through GeM, it must be registered and approved by the CDSCO.
Food products and agricultural-related goods sold through GeM must comply with the FSSAI (Food Safety Standards Authority of India) licensing requirements. The standards include stipulations regarding organic claims, tolerance limits on pesticide residues, and regulated food safety parameters. Certification of organic certifying bodies must be obtained before any product can be marketed as organic. Self-declaration is not sufficient.
To ensure your products meet the requirements of your specific category, do the necessary research first. While GeM provides a detailed description of each listing category and their required certifications, it does not always provide complete detail. By confirming the requirements of each category listing against BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards), notification from appropriate ministries, and QCO (Quality Control Order) lists, you will avoid potential rejection of a listing due to lack of required certifications when buyers request them.
Documentation: Getting Your Compliance House in Order
Ultimately, quality compliance is determined by the proper documentation that is updated and will allow for verification. The organized compliance file of vendors will save a ton of trouble during audits and assessments.
The basic registration must always be up to date. If a GST registration or a Udyam certificate is expired, the accounts will be put on hold. Set the calendar reminders for renewal at least 30 days prior to expiration so that there is no disruption. In the same manner, you must update your bank account information and PAN number, as well as information about your signing authority, whenever there are updates to these documents.
All certifications that are related to products must be tracked systematically. For all categories of products you sell, you should have a file folder for each category containing the original product certifications and the renewal notices, the compliance testing reports, and all correspondence with certification bodies. You should keep all reports of BIS or any other agency of a surveillance test, even if the results are good. These reports are verification of your continuous compliance.
Most of the time, many sellers don't realize how important things like factory layout plans, quality control procedures, testing and inspection procedures, supporting calibration certificates for testing equipment, and supporting supplier verification records are for vendor evaluations. It is recommended that you consider these to be permanent records and therefore, they should be regularly updated to reflect any changes in operations.
All financial documentation must be consistent across all platforms; specifically, the information contained in ITR filings, bank statements, GST returns, and GeM financial statements must be identical. Any inconsistency in any of these items will raise potential red flags during vendor evaluations. It is important to work closely with your chartered accountant to maintain consistency in all your financial disclosures.
Performance Monitoring: Quality Compliance Doesn't End at Registration
In order for sellers to become compliant and registered on GeM, they need to have a working account. The level of success can only be measured by how well the seller is able to maintain compliance with GeM's quality standards moving forward. Falling below the minimum required standard can have a major negative impact on a seller's ability to maintain their account status as well as provide them with additional business opportunities.
Sellers are evaluated based on buyer ratings. Buyer ratings are recorded and have a direct affect on where the seller appears in relation to a search result or filter. Sellers who receive high ratings are given preference over lower-rated sellers, which in turn will generate more sales for the seller.
GeM tracks seller performance based on the delivery timing metrics. Sellers are expected to adhere 100% to the timeline that they communicated to GeM when submitting bids. If a seller consistently fails to deliver products by their communicated deadline, it will negatively impact their buyer. Additionally, if sellers are regularly requesting additional time to fulfill orders, GeM's system will flag them as over-promising.
Quality complaints initiate an investigation. If buyers make a quality complaint regarding your product, GeM will initiate their grievance redressal mechanism. You will be required to respond to the complaint you receive within the stipulated time frame (usually between three to five working days) with a reason for the complaint and the resolution you would propose. If the complaint is not resolved, the complaint will continue to escalate until it results in penalties such as suspension from particular categories temporarily or an account hold entirely.
Return and refund rates are tracked by category. If you have high return rates for your products in any given category compared to the return rates of other sellers, GeM will warn you about a potential quality problem. You may be asked for an explanation, required to submit to additional quality inspection, and/or may be placed on temporary removal from the selection of products in that category until you resolve your product quality problems.
Staying Ahead: Proactive Compliance Strategies for 2025
The compliance landscape on GeM is only getting stricter. Here's how smart sellers are:
First, do not settle for simply getting the ISO 9001 Certification. Implementing Quality Management Systems (QMS) into your operations by actualizing the principles of TQM throughout your entire organization requires
a) Documented processes for all aspects of your QMS,
b) Performing regular internal auditing and developing a culture of continuous improvement,
c) Management's commitment to quality beyond the requirements outlined in your QMS documents.
Second, include compliance costs in your pricing strategy. Do not view compliance costs as an unnecessary burden to be avoided. Instead, view compliance costs as an integral aspect of pricing your products on GeM, and proactively include compliance costs as part of the costs of doing business on GeM. Those sellers who try to absorb compliance costs through lowering their margins will ultimately suffer from quality issues and increased product returns due to the increase in complaints from customers.
Third, have a compliance calendar that outlines the renewal dates for all licenses, etc., along with the timelines for scheduling inspections and the timelines for updating any documentation required for compliance. If a seller fails to renew their BIS license, even for one day, the consequences could result in a seller being delisted from GeM, losing all current orders, and having to go through the entire process to obtain their certification again. A professional seller takes compliance deadlines as seriously as he takes his financial close deadlines.
Finally, for complex compliance requirements, engage a professional consultant who has experience with these processes (i.e., how to complete vendor assessments, get BIS certification, and achieve quality accreditations). There are many technical requirements and procedural nuances to each process, and therefore, expert consultants can complete these comprehensive compliance processes much more quickly and with a lower rejection rate than a seller attempting these processes through trial and error.
Fifth, you should think about compliance as an advantage over competitors instead of an obligation to meet the minimum requirements for compliance. With the growing emphasis on compliance through GeM's Quality Management Framework, there will be a number of marginal sellers leaving the platform as they either can’t or won’t invest the time and money needed to achieve compliance. Serious sellers who have made investments into quality systems should see this as an opportunity to benefit from having less competition from those who are only interested in making quick sales at the lowest possible price while compromising on quality.
The Bottom Line: Compliance Is Your License to Operate
In 2025, GeM's quality assurance framework will be comprehensive, will use verification to determine validity, and will have strict implementations in place. Self-declarations and minimal documentation will no longer suffice. GeM will evolve to the point of being a complex procurement ecosystem in which only truly qualified, quality-committed sellers can survive.
There's no need to worry if you're a legitimate business with real products and quality control systems in place. Such requirements eliminate some of the less legitimate sellers who create doubt among potential buyers about GeM. Government buyers will now have greater faith in purchasing through GeM, knowing that quality assurance is in place.
Establishing compliance as part of your company’s culture from the onset is paramount. It’s unwise to wait until the vendor assessment is scheduled to begin preparation of documentation. It’s also ineffective to get certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) after you get bids requiring that certification. Start investing in your company’s quality systems now, keep thorough documentation, and make sure that certifications are renewed continuously.
Conduct a compliance audit of your current seller status on the GeM platform if you’re an active seller. Are all your certifications updated? Are there any non-compliances from prior assessments that are outstanding? Are all of your documents properly filed and readily accessible? The best time to correct any gaps in your compliance or documentation is now, prior to the time you will be required to submit them during a critical bid or assessment.
The GeM platform represents a tremendous, growing opportunity for sellers, currently estimated at ₹ 5,00,000 crores & growing rapidly. However, this opportunity will only be available to sellers that honor the quality expectations of the GeM platform and make compliance a priority. Sellers who do not see the importance of quality assurance or who attempt to game the system will find themselves unable to meet the increasingly stringent verification requirements.
Comply with the GeM platform, provide the highest level of quality products and services to government buyers, maintain complete and accurate documentation at all times, and always deal professionally with the government buyers. If you do this, the GeM platform could provide a stable, profitable revenue source for many years.
