TCIL blacklists Cisco from participating in its tenders for 2 yrs over KSWAN 3.0 dispute

New Delhi: State-owned TCIL has blacklisted networking giant Cisco Systems India from participating in its future tenders for two years, accusing the firm of adopting non-responsive, monopolistic and anti-competitive practices to 'sabotage' the PSU’s participation in a Karnataka state e-governance tender.

In an order dated January 14, 2026, the state-owned firm alleged that the conduct of Cisco Systems in the particular instance "indicates unfair, exclusionary and anti-competitive practices, aimed at sabotaging TCIL's participation in a public procurement process for unlawful commercial gain".

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TCIL order said it has blacklisted Cisco Systems from participating in any of its future tenders, bids, RFPs or procurement processes for two years.

However, the existing contracts, works, bids and projects will not be affected by the order, it noted.

The matter pertains to a tender floated by Karnataka Centre for eGovernance for the selection of a system integrator for KSWAN 3.0. The scope of the tender pertained to the provision of statewide network connectivity for the Government of Karnataka offices, along with operations and maintenance services for a period of five years. The last date for bid submission was January 14, 2026, it added.

TCIL alleged that Cisco failed to provide mandatory bid-related documents and manufacturer authorisation form within stipulated timelines despite repeated reminders, and later attempted to impose new and "extraneous" conditions at the final stage of bid submission and actions TCIL described as a breach of assurance and detrimental to fair competition.

There was no official comment on the issue from TCIL.

Responding to a PTI query on the issue, Cisco, in an email statement, said it "abides by applicable local laws and regulations in all the markets we operate in, and we set out intentionally high standards in our Code of Business Conduct to which we hold ourselves".

"As we continue to engage with Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd on this matter, we remain focused on delivering industry-leading products and services to customers across India," the Cisco statement said.

In its order, TCIL alleged that Cisco's conduct amounted to deliberate non-responsiveness and the creation of artificial entry barriers at the closing stage of bid submission.

TCIL said the tender was of strategic and economic importance to it, and that it is in good faith that the company had approached Cisco Systems India (OEM) as early as December 18, 2025, seeking OEM support required in government procurement, including technical compliance documents, product data-sheets, solution inputs and issuance of Manufacturer Authorisation forms.

But in spite of TCIL's repeated requests and follow-ups, Cisco failed to provide the requisite bid-related documents within a reasonable time - this despite being well aware of the bid submission deadline. On January 12, 2026, at a meeting in the TCIL office, executives of Cisco committed to providing bid-related documents by the end of the day, but the company failed to keep its word, TCIL alleged.

Instead, at the final stage of bid submission, Cisco sought to impose "new and extraneous" terms and conditions, particularly an unprecedented undertaking to be signed by the CMD of TCIL".

TCIL noted that such conditions never figured in the past, despite Cisco partnering with it for many projects like ICG, AFNET and PSB.

"...hence the present condition was an intentional attempt to sabotage the participation of TCIL," the state-owned company alleged.

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