Unfair tenders most reported cases: KPPU

Unfair procurement tenders remained the cases most reported to the anti-monopoly watchdog this year.

Of the 201 alleged unfair business practice cases that were reported to the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) in 2009, 169 or 84 percent were in connection to unfair procurement tenders.

Unfair tenders also topped the 2008 list with 189 cases or 79 percent of the total 230 reported that year.

However, the KPPU has only investigated 33 cases, of which 13 cases have been completed.

In 2008, the anti-monopoly body investigated 68 cases, of which 43 were completed.

Other cases that were reported to the commission included cartels, mergers that lead to monopolies, price fixing, predatory pricing and other unfair business practices that are prohibited under the 1999 anti-monopoly law.

KPPU spokesman Ahmad Junaidi said the figures showed that people were now no longer afraid to report irregular procurement processes.

“Businessmen are now more open to filing complains over alleged unfair tenders to the KPPU,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Fines that resulted from KPPU verdicts since its establishment in 2000 have also increased non-tax income by Rp 1.01 trillion (US$107.06 million), Junaidi claimed, “while we have used only Rp 139 billion from the state budget”.

In 2010, one of KPPU’s concerns was to monitor abuses of power by authorities in connection with the procurement of government tenders.

“Our observations so far show that many government procurements still implement unfair processes, for example fixing the winner among the participants.

“Such practices mostly involve intervention from the bidding committee or even by top officials,” Junaidi said. (bbs)