Question

Recently, the reporter came across such a problem: The bid opening summary shows that Company A's bid price is 38 million yuan. Before Company A confirmed the bid price correction, the bid evaluation committee found that the proposed confirmed bid price (the price in the tender document: 38.8 million yuan) was inconsistent with the price on the bid opening summary. Then, which amount should be chosen as the basis for Company A's quotation to be legal and reasonable? Which quotation is the true intention of Company A?

Answer

"First of all, it depends on whether the bidding documents have clear provisions. If there are clear provisions, they shall be subject to the provisions of the bidding documents; if there are no provisions, the correction shall be made in accordance with the provisions of Article 59 of the Measures for the Administration of Bidding and Tendering for Government Procurement of Goods and Services (Decree No. 87 of the Ministry of Finance, hereinafter referred to as 'Decree No. 87')," Wang Yongfeng, director of the Bid Evaluation Department of Tianjin Government Procurement Center, told the reporter.

Cheng Kai, person in charge of China Foreign Trade International Engineering Tendering (Beijing) Co., Ltd., also said that it mainly depends on the provisions of the procurement documents. If there are no special provisions, it shall be subject to Article 59 of Decree No. 87.

"If there are no other provisions in the bidding documents, will the final evaluation be based on 38 million yuan or 38.8 million yuan?" the reporter asked.

"Generally speaking, in accordance with the provisions of Article 59 of Decree No. 87, the quotation on the bid opening summary shall prevail. Unless the bidding documents specify a special method for correcting the quotation or the bidder does not confirm the corrected quotation," Cheng Kai said. At the same time, he also provided the legal source. According to the provisions of Article 51 of Decree No. 87, for the contents in the tender document with ambiguous meanings, inconsistent expressions of similar issues, or obvious literal and calculation errors, the bid evaluation committee shall request the bidder to make necessary clarifications, explanations or corrections in writing. The bidder's clarifications, explanations or corrections shall be in writing and sealed with the official seal, or signed by the legal representative or its authorized representative. The bidder's clarifications, explanations or corrections shall not go beyond the scope of the tender document or change the substantial content of the tender document.

Wang Yongfeng also said that the corrected price shall be based on the provisions of Article 59 of Decree No. 87, that is, 38 million yuan. The corrected price shall, in accordance with the provisions of Article 51 of Decree No. 87, require the supplier to confirm whether to accept it. If the supplier accepts the price, the evaluation will continue; if not, the bid shall be deemed invalid. In addition, the corrected price is corrected by the bid evaluation committee in accordance with the regulations, rather than the supplier confirming the price.

Source: This article is from Page 4, Issue 950 of China Government Procurement News.