How to Bid for a Federal Government Tender in Pakistan on EPADS

To bid for a federal government tender in Pakistan, you sign up as a vendor at vendors.epads.gov.pk, find the tender on epads.gov.pk, and submit your bid online before the deadline. From 28 September 2026 the new Public Procurement Rules, 2026 make EPADS the only route for federal procuring agencies.

The vendor sign-up form we opened on 2 October 2026 asks for your name, mobile number, email and a password. It showed no payment step. The rules themselves sit in a 47-page Gazette notification, S.R.O. 1658(I)/2026, which PPRA posted on its announcements page on 30 September 2026. We read it in full.

The Public Procurement Rules 2026 replaced the 2004 rules on 28 September

The federal government notified the Public Procurement Rules, 2026 in the Gazette of Pakistan on 28 September 2026. They came into force at once. Rule 69 repeals the 2004 rules, and rule 8 says procuring agencies "shall carry out public procurement" through EPADS.

EPADS stands for E-Pak Acquisition and Disposal System. It is the online tender system run by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), the federal body that writes and enforces procurement rules.

One detail matters if you already have a bid out. Rule 68 says any procurement started before the new rules began is still processed under the 2004 rules. So a tender advertised in early September follows the old rulebook to the end. A tender advertised from 28 September follows the new one.

These rules cover federal bodies: ministries, divisions, federal authorities and companies such as power distribution companies and gas utilities. Provinces run their own procurement authorities and systems. A Punjab or Sindh department tender is not covered here.

Registering as an EPADS vendor takes one online form

You create a vendor account at vendors.epads.gov.pk/register with your name, a mobile number, an email address and a password. The form warns that your email becomes your permanent ID on EPADS and cannot be changed later.

So use an email the business will keep for years. A staff member's personal Gmail is a bad choice. If that person leaves, the account goes with them.

After sign-up you build a supplier profile. The EPADS terms and conditions list what vendors should have ready:

• Business registration, such as an SECP certificate or a registered partnership deed.
• A tax number, and sales tax registration where your goods need it.
• Financial statements and bank references.
• Key staff, quality certificates and past client references.

If your business is a company, you will need the incorporation certificate from registering a company with SECP. A one-person business needs an NTN first. The steps to get an NTN number are free on FBR's IRIS portal.

Find a tender and read the bidding documents first

Open tenders are listed on the epads.gov.pk home page with the buyer's name, the tender number, the publish date and a live countdown to closing. On 2 October 2026 we saw tenders from Pakistan Railways, CDA, the Pakistan Airports Authority and others.

Each listing also shows the bidding method. "Single Stage-One Envelope" means your technical and price offer go in together. "Single Stage-Two Envelope" means your price stays sealed until your technical offer passes. Read which one it is before you prepare anything.

The rules give you a minimum amount of time. Under rule 19, the response time is at least 10 days for a national tender and 20 days for an international one, counted from the day the notice appears on EPADS.

Questions go through EPADS too. Rule 38 lets any bidder ask for a clarification up to three days before the deadline. The agency must reply within two days, and the answer goes to every bidder, not just you.

Bid security is capped at 5 per cent under the new rules

A procuring agency can ask for bid security of up to 5 per cent of the estimated value for tenders up to Rs 250 million, and up to 2 per cent above that. Where it asks for none, you sign a bid security declaration instead.

Bid security is money or a bank guarantee you lodge to show you are serious. You can lose it if you withdraw after the deadline or refuse a contract you won. The exact amount and form are in each tender's documents.

Submit before the deadline and watch the online opening

Bids are submitted and opened on EPADS, and the opening must happen at least 30 minutes after the deadline. If the opening day becomes a public holiday or EPADS fails, both submission and opening move to the next working day at the same time.

Follow this order for each tender:

1. Log in to your vendor account and open the tender.
2. Download the bidding documents and note the method, deadline and bid security.
3. Send any questions through EPADS at least three days before the deadline.
4. Upload your technical offer, price offer and supporting papers.
5. Arrange the bid security exactly as the documents ask.
6. Submit, then check that EPADS shows your bid as received.

Do not wait for the last hour. Leave time for slow uploads, because a bid that arrives one minute late is a late bid.

Big tenders are also shown in public. The rules require a live broadcast of bid opening when goods and services exceed Rs 500 million, or works exceed Rs 1,000 million.

Who cannot bid, and what happens after you win

Rule 21 bars bidders who are bankrupt, convicted by a final court judgment, or blacklisted by the buyer or cross-debarred by PPRA. A firm debarred by the World Bank or a similar lender is treated as blacklisted in Pakistan as well.

Check your own standing before you spend money on a bid. PPRA keeps a public list of active blacklisted firms on its EPMS site.

Winning brings tax with it. Government buyers deduct income tax from what they pay suppliers and contractors, which the rules on tax deducted from supplier payments explain.

Common questions

Is EPADS vendor registration free?

The sign-up form we opened on 2 October 2026 had no payment step. Some tenders charge for their bidding documents, and that cost is shown in the tender itself.

Do the 2026 rules apply to a tender I bid on in August?

No. Rule 68 says procurement started before 28 September 2026 is processed under the Public Procurement Rules, 2004.

Can I use EPADS for a Punjab or Sindh government tender?

Not under these rules. They cover federal procuring agencies. Provincial tenders follow provincial procurement rules and systems.

How much bid security will I need?

It depends on the tender, but the cap is 5 per cent of the estimated value up to Rs 250 million, and 2 per cent above that.

Who do I call if EPADS will not work?

PPRA lists the EPADS help line as 051-111-137-237 and the email as epadshelp@ppra.gov.pk.

Does PPRA train new vendors?

Yes. Its training page listed a free online EPADS vendor and supplier session on 2 October 2026. Watch the page for the next date.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked on 2 October 2026. We read the Public Procurement Rules, 2026 (S.R.O. 1658(I)/2026, Gazette of Pakistan Extraordinary, 28 September 2026) as posted by PPRA, including rules 8, 19, 21, 25, 32, 36, 38, 40, 68 and 69. We opened the EPADS tender list at epads.gov.pk, the vendor sign-up form at vendors.epads.gov.pk/register, the EPADS terms and conditions, and PPRA's training page for the help line details. PPRA has not published a separate vendor fee schedule on the pages we read.