Contracting authority can make its own finding of bid-rigging
10.12.2021
Poland’s Public Procurement Court issued a judgment on 23 November 2021 (case no. XXIII Zs 99/21) upholding our argument that a contractor which colluded with the aim of interfering with competition must be excluded from the contract award procedure (under Public Procurement Law Art. 108(1)(5)), even if the collusion was not confirmed through a decision by the president of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection or a judgment from the court.
The contracting authority may determine on its own, based on credible grounds, that a contractor colluded with other contractors with the aim of disrupting competition.
A contractor which has been excluded from a procurement procedure for this reason and has not had the contracting authority’s decision set aside is required to “self-clean” in subsequent procurement procedures for a period of three years following the actions excluding it from the procedure.