Decision No D.756/11/2024 by the Public Procurement Arbitration Board

Based on an ex officio initiative submitted by the Integrity Authority against the public procurement procedure titled “Development of primary healthcare services”, conducted by the Municipality of Somlószőlős, the Public Procurement Arbitration Board (hereinafter: PPAB) found that both the contracting authority and the successful tenderer as Respondent had committed infringements and imposed fines on them.

The PPAB found that the contracting authority had unlawfully applied the procedure under Section 115(1) and (2) of the PPA, involving the direct invitation of five tenderers, and had breached the fair competition requirements set out in Section 2(1) of the of the Act CXLIII of 2015 on public procurement (hereinafter: PPA)  as well as the conflict of interest rules under Section 25 of the PPA.  The contracting parties unlawfully modified the public procurement contract, without meeting the requirements under Section 141(4)(c) of the PPA. The contracting authority failed to comply with its obligation to control and document contract performance, thus infringing Section 142(1) of the PPA.

The Respondent seriously infringed the rules on subcontractor reporting and declarations, as the contract was performed by a different subcontractor, and the Respondent also failed to fulfil the obligation to employ the proposed expert.

The contracting authority has sought judicial review of Decision NoD. 756/11/2024 of the PPAB.

In its final judgment, the Budapest Metropolitan Court dismissed the claim brought by the contracting authority, ruling that the PPAB had lawfully and on solid grounds determined that the contracting authority had committed infringements and had validly imposed a fine as a result.