Fair Trade Commission "O&M and Hanbit Colluded on Evaluation Service for Power Facility Replacement Standards... Corrective Order and Fine Imposed"

The Winning Bidder Sometimes Writes the Proposal for the Colluding Bidder

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 23rd that it has decided to issue corrective orders (prohibition of future acts) and impose a total fine of 32 million KRW on two companies, O&M Korea and Hanbit Power, for colluding in the bidding for the evaluation testing service provider selection conducted by the Korea Electric Power Corporation Power Research Institute.

According to the Fair Trade Commission, O&M and Hanbit agreed and executed a collusion between the winning bidder and the colluding bidder in the bid for the "Evaluation Testing Service Provider Selection for Establishing Replacement Standards for Power Facilities in Island Areas," conducted by KEPCO Power Research Institute on January 25, 2017.

O&M and Hanbit arranged for Hanbit to participate in the bid as the colluding bidder so that O&M could win the contract. Ultimately, O&M won the bid, and during the bidding process, O&M even wrote the proposal on behalf of Hanbit, the colluding bidder.

A Fair Trade Commission official stated, "It is significant that we detected and sanctioned a sophisticated collusion method in which the winning bidder wrote the proposal for the colluding bidder in a public enterprise service bid," adding, "The Fair Trade Commission will continue to actively respond to collusive bidding practices in the public sector that cause budget waste."

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