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Date : .....07.2015
To,
1. SHRI NARENDRA MODI, Honorable,
Prime Minister, Prime Ministers Office,
10 Janpath Road, New Delhi.
2. SHRI
NITIN
JAIRAM
GADKARI,
Honorable Minister, Ministry of Road
Transport
&
Highways,
Transport
Bhawan, 1, Parliament Street, New
Delhi-110001.
3. SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD,
Honorable
Minister,
Ministry
of
Communications
&
Information
Technology (Government of India),
Electronics Niketan, 6, CGO Complex,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi: 110003.
4. PRIME MINISTERS OFFICE, through
its Chief Secretary, 10 Janpath Road,
New Delhi
5. MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT &
HIGHWAYS, Through Its Secretary,
Transport Bhawan, 1, Parliament Street,
New Delhi-110001.
6. MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS &
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
(GOVERNMENT OF INDIA), Through
Its Secretary, Electronics Niketan, 6,
CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi:
110003.
7. NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION
FOR
SOFTWARE AND SERVICES, Through
its
Chairman,
International
Youth
Centre, Teen Murti Marg,Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi, India
8. National Highway Authority of
India, Through the Chief General
Manager,G-5 & 6, Dwarka, Sector No.
10, New Delhi.
9. National Highway Authority of
India, Through the General Manager,
(P&IS),G-5 & 6, Dwarka, Sector No. 10,
New Delhi.
SUBJECT :- NON-PAYMENT OF LONG PENDING DUES BY NHAI
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Dear Sirs,
i.

This is with reference to the I-Pad/ Tablet/ Mobile application developed by

M/s C-Net Infotech Pvt. Ltd. For the National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI). That this letter is in respect of the delay in payment and the red-tape
in the Departmental Proceedings in aforesaid payment.

ii.

That we, C-NET are a CMMI Level 3 company engaged in the business of
providing IT and IT related services since 1998. That our registered office is
located at Bhopal and our primary clients include carious Government and
Semi-Governmental organizations and department and we implemented
more than 50 projects in e-governance domain which have contributed in
improving the functioning of various government departments and PSUs of
the country.

iii. That the NHAI had issued a notice inviting for tenders for Selection of
Service Provider for application development and development of a software
solution so that requisite information/ photos/ videos from work site can be
captured using I-pad/ Tablet/ Mobile phones. vide Tender Document no.
11013/16/2011/i-Pad-P&IS dated 09.11.2011, Wherein M/s C-Net Infotech Pvt.
Ltd. was adjudged as the Successful Bidder and NHAI vide its Letter of
Award(LOA) no. 11013/97/2011/IT dated 02.01.2012 requested C-net to
submit PBG, which C-net submitted and accordingly both parties signed a
contract agreement dated 23.03.2012 for performance of services as
incorporated in the Contract. The copy of Tender Document, Letter of Award
and the contract agreement are attached herewith as Annexures- C-1, C-2
and C-3 respectively.
iv. That our organisation started the execution of the Project in March, 2012
itself. That as per the terms of contract the project was divided in V (Five)
Milestones, which were:-

v.

a)

System Requirement Study (SRS).

b)

Implementation of Centralised infrastructure.

c)

Integration with Mobile Network and development and testing of data

collection modules.

d)

Development of MIS reporting solution.

e)

Successful implementation of the project, Commissioning of the system

(Go-live) and handing over including training of officers.

That the payment was linked to the aforesaid milestones. That as per the
milestones, C-Net had submitted the SRS and on 23, March, 2012 the same
was accepted and the payment towards the same was also released. That
according to the SRS, we had developed the application and completed the
work which was also demonstrated to the Senior Officials. The senior officials
also commenced us on the success of the project and application.
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vi. That after completion of work per the contract, upon our insistence NHAI had
made payment for the work completed in the first four (4) milestones.
vii. That after the award of the aforesaid contract, C-Net completed the project
and delivered a working application for the Ipad/Mobile and Tablets which can
be seen at www.nhaimobi.org as early as March, 2013, whereafter NHAI has
requested all its GMs, AGMs to implement the same vide its Circular no.
13012/06/2012/IT/3 dated 18.03.2013. A copy of the said Circular is attached
herewith for ready reference.
viii. That after 3 months of the said Circular, C-net has handed over the aforesaid
software and application to NHAI in June, 2013 as per the terms of Milestone
(V). A copy of the letter with respect to handing over is also attached
herewith.
ix. Further, the time period for the operation and maintenance of the said
application begun from 1st July, 2013 according to the terms of the contract,
which was also informed to NHAI vide our letter dated 29.06.2013. A copy of
the same is attached.
x.

That, during the aforesaid maintenance period, time and again we have
completed enhanced scope of work for NHAI, which is showcased in the
internal departmental letter dated 10.01.2014. A copy is attached herewith.

xi. That the application was completed as early as July, 2013 and maintenance
of the project commenced from July, 2013, but still the payment for
milestone V (five) for testing/rectification of bugs, successful training and
commissioning of the system and handing over had not been made by NHAI
despite repeated requests by C-Net. In reply to our request for payment,
NHAI ordered 2 (two) external audits to be conducted on the project by their
IT Consultant, M/s Accenture Ltd.
xii. That both the audits were successful and no infirmity with the application
and the project was found in the same. Still the payment for Milestone (V)
was stopped without any reason or information.
xiii. That despite the completion of the application to the satisfaction of NHAI,
NHAI insisted that the project be audited by an external auditor, and the
same was executed by IT Consultant M/s Accenture as per note dated
19.08.2013 and by their report dated 13.11.2013, which was also accepted in
totality by the auditors.
xiv. But even after 2 audits and departmental satisfaction and smooth running of
the application for more than 2.5 years, the payment for Milestone V for
which bill was an invoice was raised on 04/01/2013 has still not been paid.
Further, no amount for additional scope of work undertaken by us has been
quantified and paid. Also, the payment for maintenance for the past two
years since July, 2013 has also not been paid and since July, 2013 C-Net has
been paying the hosting charges for the application without being paid by
NHAI.
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xv. That such is the situation, that NHAI has stopped replying to out letters since
last two years and no reply or information is forthcoming from their side with
respect to our payment.
xvi. In the Indian Information Technology Industry, it is a well known fact that
Indian MNCs have almost stopped and abstained from entering into
governmental IT development projects in the last 2- 3 years because of the
following predominant reasons:

That information technology field is one which is very evolving and there
are always more things which can be done, so the unreasonable and out
of contract requests for improvements in the softwares /applications by
higher governmental officials.

The red-tapism and prolonged delays in the payment of the contract

consideration.

The departmental bureaucracy, wherein payments are withheld out of

the contract due to transfer, change or retirement of higher officials.

All the terms that are only binding on the contractor and the government
is never liable for delays in payment or illegally stopping payment or
interest on delay.

No proper dispute redressal forum as the MD or CMD is almost always

the arbitrator, who being the departmental head always favors the
department.

No responsibility on the part of government employee for timely reply

and prompt sharing of information with the contractor or inside the
department.

Most times the hardware and infrastructure does not support the project
which the government envisaged.

xvii.
That due to all the above, the e-governance and the Digital India
initiative are getting interrupted and the Governmental projects are bound to
suffer. That on the One hand the government promises everything on the
mobile and on the other hand all the technology partners of the government
are made to suffer by Government for no fault of theirs.
xviii. That it has become a bane for the industry to work for governmental or
departmental projects as in all the projects due to no fault of the
company/contractor the government either withholds payment or delays
payment or makes one or the other excuse to not perform their obligations
and timely payments under the contract.
xix. That the E-Governance, Make In India and Digital India Week initiatives and
campaigns undertaken by the Government have been enacted with an
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objective of promotion and development of IT Infrastructure in the Country

and C-Net has always seen eye to eye with the Government and made every
possible effort to substantiate its claims, but instead of support from the
Governmental agencies we have encountered only hurdles.
xx. Now upon perusal of the contents of the above, it shall become clear that
when infact the state does not perform the contracts as promised the big
players including large MNCs like Wipro, TCS, HCL, Accenture etc. shall
further retract due to the uncertain and unreasonable behavior of the
Government and the development of governmental projects shall suffer huge
financial losses. Thus, we in such cases are left with no option but to go for
illogical litigation which could have easily avoided for proper adjudication of
justice.
xxi. That if this the intent of the Government then all the IT policies enacted over
the years are bound to fail, when the government itself fails to keeps its
promises then how can the citizens and businessmen be liable for theirs. The
Information Technology has become one of the strongest pillars supporting
the development of this country and if only such hollow efforts are made by
the Government then its objective to make India into a Digital one shall fail
and no industries would be interested in investing in these projects. Now the
time has come to take the IT development and projects seriously for
development of infrastructure, creation of jobs and creating a healthy
environment for learning the tricks and trades of the IT business. That C-Net
and its partners have always been a strong supporter and active
investor/participant of the cause. However, due to untimely and
unreasonable responses and illogical delay in projects our belief in the proper
working of these policies has been shaken.
xxii.
However, we believe that the active steps can be initiated by government
and its path can be corrected and the faith of the industry and the common
man in the promises made by it can be affirmed and keeping in mind the
aforesaid faith and for the sake of prevalence of justice and good conscience,
we request to kindly take affirmative action and direct NHAI to initiate our
payment for the V milestone, the additional work undertaken and subsequent
maintenance.
We look forward to a positive response and valuable co-operation from
your side.

Yours Sincerely,

Shri Pravir Krishak, S/o Shri H. P.

Krishak, aged about 48 years,
Managing Director of , M/s C-Net
Infotech
Pvt.
Ltd.,
Having
its
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registered address at E-5/4, II

Floor,Shopping
Complex,
Arera
Colony, Bhopal (India) - 462016

Enclosure :- The list of documents and the documents referred are separately
attached.

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