A CLM RFP Checklist in India (2026)

If you are an Indian legal or procurement team buying contract lifecycle management (CLM) software in 2026, the request for proposal (RFP) is where you set the terms of the whole evaluation. A vague RFP gets you glossy decks and feature lists. A specific one gets you answers you can compare side by side and defend to finance. This checklist lays out the sections and questions an Indian buyer should put in a CLM RFP, so the shortlist you build is based on your real needs rather than on who demos best. It is general guidance; adapt it to your organisation and take legal and procurement advice where needed. ## Start the RFP with your problem and your numbers Open the RFP with a short statement of what you are trying to fix and how you will measure success. Name the pain plainly: slow turnaround, contracts scattered across inboxes and drives, missed renewals, no visibility into signed obligations, or legal being the bottleneck. Give current figures where you have them, such as average turnaround days, number of contracts per month, and how many renewals slipped last year. Vendors answer a problem statement far better than a blank feature grid, and these numbers become the baseline you judge the rollout against later. ## Scope and contract types Tell vendors which contract types are in the first phase (for example NDAs, vendor agreements, employment letters, sales contracts) and which teams and how many users. State your volumes. Ask each vendor how they would phase the rollout for your scope rather than for a hypothetical enterprise. A vendor that proposes a narrow, provable first phase understands implementation; one that proposes everything at once does not. ## Core CLM capability questions Ask for specifics, not yes or no. Cover a central searchable repository, drafting from templates and a clause library, workflow and approvals with value thresholds, negotiation and version control, obligation and renewal tracking with alerts, and reporting. For each, ask the vendor to describe how it works and to show it on your own sample contract during the proof of concept, not on a scripted demo. ## AI review and drafting AI is now a real differentiator, so probe it carefully. Ask what the AI actually does: does it draft full contracts, extract data from the back catalogue, flag risky clauses, and allow plain-English clause edits. Ask which underlying model powers it and whether the vendor trains on your contract corpus. Adira, for example, is built on Anthropic's Claude, models contracts as a structured clause tree rather than flat text, gives a per-clause favourable, neutral or unfavourable risk view, and states that it does not train on your contract corpus. Make every vendor answer those same questions so you can compare like with like. ## India law depth and compliance This is where generic global tools and India-first tools separate. Ask whether the system understands Indian contract and corporate law: Companies Act positions, Section 42 and PAS-3 on private placement, SEBI and FEMA items, and stamp duty. Ask how it handles e-stamping and whether e-signature supports Indian signing needs. Ask whether it can turn an obligation or a court order into a dated compliance alert. If a vendor is strongest outside India, that is fine, but you need to know before you buy, not after. ## Security, data residency and DPDP Under India's Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) regime, ask where data is stored, whether data residency in India is available, and how the vendor handles personal data, retention and deletion. Ask about encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access controls, single sign-on and SAML, and audit logs. Ask plainly whether they hold certifications such as SOC 2 or ISO 27001 and, if not, what their status is. Do not accept a vague security slide; ask for written answers. ## Integrations List the systems the CLM must connect to: your CRM, document storage, identity provider, and e-signature if separate. Ask how each integration works, whether it is native or needs middleware, and what it costs. An integration that needs a custom build is a hidden cost and a hidden delay. ## Pricing transparency Ask for the full commercial picture in writing: licence model (per seat or otherwise), minimum seats, implementation and configuration fees, training, integration costs, and renewal terms including any annual increase. Many enterprise CLM tools are quote-only, which is normal, but you should still force a complete number for your scope. Transparent per-seat pricing, such as Adira's published Practice and Firm plans in US dollars with a free trial, is easier to budget and compare; where pricing is quote-only, insist on a full written quote for your exact seat count and phase. ## Implementation, support and SLAs Ask for a realistic implementation plan and timeline for your first phase, who does the work, and what is expected of your team. Ask about data and template migration support. Ask about support channels, response times, and service level commitments for uptime and issue resolution. Ask for reference customers, ideally Indian ones in a similar sector. ## Scoring and the proof of concept Tell vendors up front how you will score, weighted to your priorities, and that the decision rides on a proof of concept using your own contracts and users, not a demo. State that you will trial shortlisted tools. A short, structured proof of concept surfaces the truth that an RFP response cannot. ## Where Adira fits an India RFP If your RFP weights Indian legal depth, AI drafting and per-clause review, firm-tuning and transparent pricing, Adira is built squarely for that: India-first corporate law understanding, drafting and review on Claude, a Company Persona tuned to how your organisation contracts, a structured clause tree, and published per-seat pricing with a 7-day trial, with other jurisdictions on its roadmap, so verify local depth before relying on it outside India. See Adira. Run it through the same checklist as everyone else and let the proof of concept decide. ## Bottom line A good CLM RFP in India starts from your problems and numbers, scopes a provable first phase, asks specific questions on capability, AI, India law, DPDP and security, integrations, pricing, implementation and SLAs, and ends in a proof of concept on your own contracts. Build the checklist once, hold every vendor to it, and you will choose on evidence rather than on who gives the best demo.