T

he Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) revealed on Wednesday that there were irregularities in the 2013 procurement of Transjakarta buses.

After more than a year of investigation, the KPPU concluded that during the procurement process, an institution under the city administration and 18 private firms involved in the procurement had violated Law No. 5/1999 on the prohibition of monopolies and unfair business practices.

The Jakarta administration bought 644 Transjakarta buses from China via bidding in 2013. The procurement was questioned following media exposure of the poor condition of a number of the buses, which did not meet the specifications set during the bidding. Many components of the newly shipped buses were rusty and damaged. The city administration later established PT Transportasi Jakarta to operate and procure buses to avoid the same mistakes.

The commission'€™s investigators alleged that there had been a conspiracy during the process between the firms and officials in the Transportation Agency'€™s goods and services procurement unit. The investigators also found that many of the firms that won the tender were also affiliated with one another.