Green light to the Council of Ministers Amendments to the D.L.P.A

The Federal Cabinet has approved amendments to the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority Ordinance 2002 to streamline procurement by the government and its affiliated agencies and departments.

The Cabinet informed participants at a recent meeting that, on the Prime Minister’s instructions, an international consultant had been engaged by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to review the full legal framework, including the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002.

The recommendations of the international consultant were discussed at the 874th PPRA Board meeting held on January 16, 2025, where the Board unanimously approved the proposed amendments to the PPRA Ordinance, 2002.

The Cabinet said that, at the request of the PPRA, it forwarded draft amendments to the Directorate of Law and Justice, which considered the proposed changes to the rules.

The final version of the bill for amendments to the LPD decree was submitted to the Prime Minister on 17 April 2025. After consideration, the Prime Minister instructed that the improvements and amendments be included in the final draft, which will be communicated to the Ministerial Committee for the Disposition of Legislative Affairs.

It was proposed that in Rule/Section 5(2)(b) the word “whole” be deleted and in Article 5(2)(d) the word “professionalism”. It was also suggested that in Rule/Section 6(j), the number of private members may be specified and in Rule/Section 20(1), after the expression “the PPRA”, the words “as the case may be” should be inserted in brackets.

It was proposed to differentiate in Rule/Section 20(8) ‘small’ and ‘major’ procurements, by adding procedures and conditions for a single contract and the procedure for cancellation of large mixed procurements and subsequent actions.

The Cabinet informed the meeting that the PPRA has been asked to comply with the Prime Minister’s directives and submit an amended draft law. PPRA then presented a revised draft of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority Ordinance (Amendment) Bill, 2025 after incorporating the amendments mentioned by the Prime Minister.

While examining the bill, the prime minister found some inconsistencies in the draft amendments and directed that the summary be resubmitted after making the necessary corrections.

Accordingly, the OPLD was once again asked to incorporate the amendments pointed out by the prime minister into the bill. In compliance with the directives, the PPRA placed before the Cabinet a final version of the Amendment Bill. A certificate from the chief executive of PPRA was also submitted to confirm that the changes ordered by the Prime Minister had been incorporated.

In view of the above, Cabinet approval in principle was sought under Section 18(2) and Section 16(1) and Section 25 of the Companies Regulations, 1973. The Cabinet considered the summary entitled “Amendment to the Proposal of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority” and approved the Decree of the Directorate of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, 20.