The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) received complaints by suppliers of substation hardware against National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) for introducing a condition in its recent tender for the procurement of grid station equipment. As per this condition only those bids were to be accepted for the subject procurement that were accompanied with type test reports for the equipment offered. The Commission also noted that in no such condition has been made mandatory in recent similar bids by other procuring agencies in power sector. Considering that NTDC specifications are not internationally known and foreign manufacturers had no way of knowing the pre-requisites for bidding beforehand this requirement had the effect of denying the complainants and other qualified suppliers a level-playing field thereby restricting competition. The Commission advised NTDC that the inclusion of the above pre-requisite appeared to hinder competition in the market not only at the cost to suppliers who were denied opportunity but also the NTDC itself and the national exchequer. In response NTDC acknowledged the competition concern and resolved the matter by amending the bidding document. As per the amended bidding documents all type tests carried out by testing laboratories having ISO certification and duly witnessed by qualified representatives of earlier clients or purchasers shall be entertained and in case of any shortcomings in these type test reports the same shall be carried out without any additional cost and without affecting the delivery schedule from any one of the seven (7) laboratories listed in the bidding document.
The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) received complaints by suppliers of substation hardware against National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) for introducing a condition in its recent tender for the procurement of grid station equipment. As per this condition only those bids were to be accepted for the subject procurement that were accompanied with type test reports for the equipment offered. The Commission also noted that in no such condition has been made mandatory in recent similar bids by other procuring agencies in power sector. Considering that NTDC specifications are not internationally known and foreign manufacturers had no way of knowing the pre-requisites for bidding beforehand this requirement had the effect of denying the complainants and other qualified suppliers a level-playing field thereby restricting competition. The Commission advised NTDC that the inclusion of the above pre-requisite appeared to hinder competition in the market not only at the cost to suppliers who were denied opportunity but also the NTDC itself and the national exchequer.
In response NTDC acknowledged the competition concern and resolved the matter by amending the bidding document. As per the amended bidding documents all type tests carried out by testing laboratories having ISO certification and duly witnessed by qualified representatives of earlier clients or purchasers shall be entertained and in case of any shortcomings in these type test reports the same shall be carried out without any additional cost and without affecting the delivery schedule from any one of the seven (7) laboratories listed in the bidding document.
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