Bidders who have been listed on the electronic Government procurement system 2 working days before the deadline for submission of bids are considered to have their valid status as prescribed at Point d, Clause 1, Article 5 of the Bidding Law.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son Company (in Quang Binh Province) participates in the bid in the form of a competitive offering for the construction package of a project that is invested by the commune-level management board. Due to the incompetence of the investor, a bidding consultant has been hired to prepare a request and evaluate the proposal.

This package was opened on June 29, 2018 and is in the process of evaluating the proposal (there is no decision on approving the result of contractor selection).

On July 5, 2018, the bidding consultant announced the results of the evaluation of the competitive offering to all 3 bidders, after receiving the above notice.

In the process of contractor selection for this package, the deadline for bid closing is June 29, 2018, the company has submitted the proposal in accordance with regulations and has registered it on the electronic Government procurement system (approved August 2, 2016), however, the contractor information on the System at the bid opening time on June 29, 2018 announced: “The account has not yet paid the maintenance fee. After March 31, 2018 the account will expire ”.

Immediately after the bid opening time, the company paid the maintenance costs and was informed: "Account is valid until March 31, 2019".

However, in the notice of the consulting unit that announces the company's evaluation result is "there is a proposal that does not guarantee the eligibility to participate in the bid", with the reason: "At the time of opening bid having an account on the electronic Government procurement system that has expired from March 31, 2018 ”.

Mr. Son would like to ask, is the evaluation results of the bidding consultant for your company's proposal are correct?

In addition, when there is no decision on approving the result of contractor selection, the bidding consultant has notified the results of his company's proposal evaluation to other contractors (notify other contractors). 2 contractors participate in bidding package above.

So, the bidding consulting unit has the act of disclosing the content of the evaluation opinion of the company's proposal before publishing the result of contractor selection, so there is a violation of the regulations on information disclosure at Clause 7, Article 89 of the Law on Bidding No. 43/2013 / QH13?

The Ministry of Planning and Investment answers this issue as follows:

According to the provisions of Point d, Clause 1, Article 5 of the Bidding Law, one of the conditions for the eligibility of a bidder to participate in a bid is to have registered on the electronic Government procurement system (the System).

Clause 1, Article 37 of Joint Circular No. 07/2015 / TTLT-BKHĐT-BTC dated September 8, 2015 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance stipulates that starting from July 1, 2016, before the Bid closing points for 2 working days, contractors without confirmation of information registration on the System may not participate in bidding for bidding packages, projects with the form of contractor selection specified in Articles 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 of the Bidding Law.

Accordingly, the contractor whose name is on the System 2 working days before the deadline for submission of the bid is considered to have the valid status as prescribed at Point d, Clause 1, Article 5 of the Bidding Law.

If the bidder has not paid the maintenance fee as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 31 of the Joint Circular No. 07/2015 / TTLT-BKHĐT-BTC, the bid solicitor should request the contractor to pay the maintenance fee during the bidevaluation process.

In the case of Mr. Son, the evaluation of bid falls under the responsibility of the expert group, the bid solicitor and on the basis of the above provisions.

In addition, disclosure of reports of the procuring entity, reports of expert groups, appraisal reports, reports of consulting contractors, reports of relevant specialized agencies in the contractor selection process. Before the result of contractor selection is publicized, it is prohibited acts specified at Point d, Clause 7, Article 89 of the Bidding Law.