In every office, the accountant, accounts officer, manger finance heads and above, are delegated financial powers with which they can approve a Bill against the Tender. There are various types of tenders, as given below.

Single Tender: An official can invite a party to quote his rate or he can purchase any item or pay for a specific job on a Single Tender basis within his down delegated power.

Limited Tenders: More than one tender becomes Limited Tenders, which are to be opened in the presence of accounts representative and the functional department. A Comparative Statement is prepared to ascertain the rates and the lowest is awarded the Specific Job/ work with its financial concurrence later. At times, effort is made to negotiate with the lowest party to reduce the rate further. There is always a fair chance of manipulation in finalizing the contract.

Public Tenders: The kind of work along with related financial information, etc., is published in newspapers along with date of opening the tender. The tenders are thus called for are to be opened in the presence of the parties who have quoted their rates.

Once again a comparative statement is prepared and the three lowest parties are invited to further reduce the rates. In Public Tenders the quantum of financial implications is more in terms of volume. The parties are asked to enclose their credentials, financial status, Income Tax Return for the last 3 years and an experience certificate from the previous parties for whom they have worked for or working presentl in a similar job.

In case of Single Tender any party can be obliged but in the case of the Limited Tenders manipulation, corruption is limited while in the Public Tender it is negligible.

Lately, Global Tenders are also invited  which are called for by big industrial organizations for works running into billions of rupees and dollars. It is safe and very competitive. You may get good rates, and at times, if not properly understood, the rate quoted can even be non-viable. Among all the above tenders, the Limited Tenders are most common but there is a lot of scope of manipulation and corruption.

Nevertheless, every single entrepreneur, factory, company, corporate, and industry chooses the system of tender that best suits them.