Under some product categories and guidelines few sellers are exempted from the vendor assessment test for their products and services. These are the following seller exempted from assessment.

• Sellers having annual turnover of Rs 500 Crore or more, at least in one of the latest three years as mentioned during registration
• Central or State PSUs
• Vendors offering products like Artwork, handicrafts, and other such items where, there is no standard manufacturing process exists. The exempted categories shall be specified by the category owner
• Sellers who are Registered Societies/ Trusts/ other bodies, if these concerns have Government Representation
• KVIC, WDO, Coir Board, TRIFED
• OEMs holding BIS License for the particular product category which are validated through BIS database. Normal validity for this exemption will be three years. Seller is mandated to notify GeM in case cancellation of BIS license and exemption will be withdrawn.
• OEMs having Unique Certification Code (UCC) issued by DRDO/ OFB/ SITRA. This exemption will be coterminous with UCC certificate validity
• Sellers recommended for exemption for specific categories and specified validity period by any CPSE, Central and State Government Departments/Authorities
• Any other category of sellers as notified with the approval of CEO of GeM

If you falls under the exemption category then you can follow these steps to apply for Vendor assessment exemption.

Step-1: Login to your GeM account on the portal with your username and password.

Go to "my account" tab and then click on "My ACTION".

Step-2: Now Click on "CREATE EXEMPTION REQUEST" and select the format for vendor assessment exemption which is applicable as per nature of your category and then proceed.

Step-3: Upload all the necessary documents and certificate to make an assessment exemption request and then proceed further.

Once the uploading of required documents in complete note down your GeM vendor assessment exemption request ID for tracking.

Quality Council of India is the apex body that is solely responsible for issuing OEM status to vendors on GeM portal after successful assessment of their products.

1. Once the application for vendor assessment is made by the applicant, it will be assigned to QCI with a unique assessment number which will be displayed on vendor assessment panel on GeM portal.
2. QCI will initiate the process by sending an e-mail to the seller’s registered e-mail address with detailing the process of assessment.
3. QCI will also verify those sellers who have applied for exemption and mark their status.

Vendor assessment is carried out by QCI n 2 stages:

1. Desktop Assessment -

Applicants are required to submit Information and documents about their product and process and if any irregularities is found then non-compliance (NC) would be raised.

2. Video Assessment -

Video Assessment is conducted by an expert using the mobile based application through video calling. It will validate the entire process submitted by the vendor through documents in Desktop Assessment.

• Assessment process is completely online
• The validity of GeM Vendor Assessment is for 3 years.
• Sellers are free to appear for the assessment prior to due date of validity.
• The Vendor Assessment fee as has to be paid directly to QCI which is non refundable.
• Once the application for Vendor Assessment is completed, QCI will contact applicants within 15 working days.
• Vendor Validation is mandatory for all sellers in GeM. One component of Vendor validation is Vendor Assessment, which is mandatory for certain sellers.

If vendors do not fall into the exemption category as per the GeM rules, then they are required to apply under normal assessment procedure and required to pay a non refundable fee of INR 11,200 including GST.