Shriram Automall to foray into Rs 50,000 cr forward auction industry

Shriram Automall India Limited (SAMIL), part of Shriram Group and MXC Solutions, has received the Standardisation Testing & Quality Certification (STQC) E-Procurement System (ePS) certificate from the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology. The certificate will enable the company to foray into the Rs 50,000 crore public sector forward auction industry.

After going through extensive tests for nearly three years, SAMIL has become the first private company in India to have its auction portal certified by the prestigious STQC directorate for exclusively conducting “forward auctions”, which is among the first of its kind issued by the agency, said Sameer Malhotra, CEO SAMIL.

He added that STQC is an e-procurement system that is responsible for maintaining e-governance standards and related conformity according to DeitY-guidelines which are an essential requirement for various government agencies for their e-procurement needs and for various entities to conduct forward auctions under SARFAESI.

“The certification stands as an assurance that the SAMIL’s exclusive forward auction portal is extremely dependable, trustworthy and above all very secure. Data of each client is stored securely in encrypted form on cloud thereby maintaining desired level of privacy, adding to its existing firewalls deterring any deliberate breach,” said Malhotra.

The exclusive forward auction portal has been customised for disposal of both movable and immovable property and is capable of handling unlimited auction events; simultaneously for multiple clients across all public sector undertakings and varied state local authorities. The robust portal will provide a reliable platform for all the leading government agencies to conduct transparent and hassle free auctioning, he added.

In the first year, the company expects around Rs 1,000 crore worth of transactions. To start with it will focus on movable properties.

Malhotra said, online forward auctions have so far been untapped by the company for the public sector. SAMIL offers auction services, software development & consulting services to various auto OEMs, leasing companies, banks/NBFCs and insurance companies.

Since PSU entities mandatorily require their e-procurement and forward auction service providers to be STQC certified as a pre-requisite for empanelment, this will provide a very secure, accurate and trustworthy platform for all the leading PSU’s and all such financial institutions for auctioning their movable and immovable assets, he added.

SAMIL is part of country's largest NBFC  - Shriram Transport Finance Company Ltd (STFC) - and MXC Solutions India, which runs both CarTrade.com and CarWale.com.

Every month, SAMIL conducts more than 5,000 bidding events through its physical and digital platforms.

The company provides online vehicle transaction services through CarTradeExchange.com and vehicle inspection facility through its 100% subsidiary Adroit Inspection Services Pvt. Ltd,

In a span of ten years SAMIL has acquired over 17,50,000 customers by conducting over 1,50,000 bidding events at over 150 bidding locations across the country.