The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) has clarified reports of malfunction or inefficiency in its digital procurement platform.
In an official rebuttal, PPRA claimed the e-Pak Acquisition and Disposal System (EPADS) remains fully operational across the country despite cancellations.
The authority argued that recent media claims misrepresent procurement procedures and the legal framework governing public purchasing.
PPRA said digitization of procurement is a key governance reform aimed at improving transparency, efficiency, and accountability. It claimed that EPADS is currently active across the federal government and three provinces, with 10,235 procuring agencies and around 50,000 suppliers registered, including 732 foreign vendors.
During fiscal year 2024-25, the system processed 526,239 procurement transactions worth Rs. 1.408 trillion, and is integrated with key institutions including FBR, NADRA, SECP, PEC, FABS, DRAP, and provincial regulatory bodies, while oversight access is available to AGP, NAB, and CCP.
PPRA argued that this scale of transactions and institutional integration demonstrates full operational functionality and contradicts claims of system failure. It also claimed that EPADS 2.0 has already been deployed within federal departments and is functioning with measurable activity, including 14,511 vendors and 1,578 procuring agencies registered, along with thousands of procurements at various stages from planning to evaluation and award.
The nationwide rollout of EPADS 2.0 is scheduled for July 2026, followed by planned integration of Open Contracting Data Standards and monitoring modules in September 2026 and donor-funded procurement workflows in October 2026.
On concerns regarding rising procurement cancellations, PPRA clarified that cancellations are permitted under Rule 33 of the Public Procurement Rules 2004, which allows procuring agencies to reject all bids before acceptance. It said such decisions may result from budget constraints, withdrawal of schemes, administrative requirements, non-responsive bids, or single-bid participation.
EPADS only records these decisions in real time for transparency and audit purposes, and linking cancellations to system malfunction is inaccurate, the authority claimed.
PPRA also said its institutional reforms include the recruitment of specialists through competitive processes under approved service regulations, along with capacity-building programs conducted in collaboration with the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization in Turin.
The authority added that these reforms have strengthened governance, monitoring, and digital procurement capacity.
The authority further mentioned a World Bank assessment describing EPADS as internationally compliant, secure, and suitable for multilateral development bank procurement standards.