Unfair tenders stay as most reported cases: KPPU

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/30/2009 10:51 PM

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

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

Unfair tenders also topped the 2008 list with 189 cases or 79 percent of the total 230 reported unfair business practices during the year.

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

In 2008, the anti-monopoly body investigated more cases, with 68 cases probed, of which 43 had been finished.

Other cases that were reported to the commission included cartels, mergers that lead to monopolies, price fixings, predatory pricings, and other unfair business practices that were 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 file complains over alleged unfair tenders to KPPU,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Fines that resulted from KPPU verdicts since its establishment in 2000 had also added state 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 is to monitor abuse of power by authorities in connection with government’s procurement tenders.

“Our observations so far show that many government’s 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 the top officials,” Junaidi said. (bbs)