WHEN CAN A BIDDING PACKAGE BE CANCELED ACCORDING TO THE LAW ON BIDDING 2023?

Legal situation: I’m a general director of Company H, in 2023 we participated in the bidding for the construction and installation bidding package No ĐT501, however, we didn’t win the bidding even though we were capable and experienced while Company K, the contractor that didn’t the meet the conditions of the bidding package surprisingly won the bidding. After that, the authorities discovered that during the bidding process of the above bidding package, Company K bribed the competent authorities in bidding to win the bid. So, I would like to ask if this bidding package must be canceled.

Answer: Thank you for trusting and sending your question to the “FDVN” law firm. After researching the legal regulation, FDVN has the following information to share:

Bid cancellation is considered a measure to handle violations of law in the field of Bidding and other relevant regulations by individuals and organizations when participating in acts of bidding, through bid cancellation decisions.

According to the above information, it can be seen that Company K has committed acts of bribing the competence authorities in the bidding process to win the construction and installation bidding package No ĐT501. In addition, according to Point d, Clause 1, Article 17 of the Law on Bidding 2023, bid cancellation shall occur in case of contractor selection when a successful bidder commits any of the prohibited acts in Article 16 of this Law.

Therefore, the bidding construction and installation bidding package No ĐT501 can be canceled because the successful bidder had committed the act of giving bribes, which is a prohibited act in bidding activities specified in Article 16 of the Law on Bidding 2023. Bid cancellation may occur within the period from the issuance of the EOI request, prequalification document, bidding documents, or RFP to the signing date of the contract or framework agreement in case of centralized procurement.

The above is FDVN's legal advice related to your consulting requests after studying relevant legal regulations. Hopefully, FDVN’s advice will be helpful to you.

By Pham Van Viet – FDVN Law firm

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