The Free State High Court has handed down an interim order that stops a tender being awarded for prepaid electricity vending services in the Mangaung municipality, after an applicant was disqualified from bidding.
The court order has halted the award of a tender, pending a full review of the tender process. The legal bid was instigated by Net1 subsidiary EasyPay, which took the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, state-owned Centlec and several metering solution companies to court over the tender process.
Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality governs Bloemfontein and surrounding towns in the Free State province. EasyPay facilitates the payment of accounts, purchase of prepaid electricity, prepaid airtime and other services.
EasyPay's argument was that it was not given enough technical information in sufficient time to enable it to take part in a demonstration of its solutions. The judge found the order should be granted as EasyPay will otherwise be prejudiced, also awarding the company costs.
Enough prejudice
In October 2012, Centlec - a municipal entity distributing electricity in Mangaung and other municipalities - asked for bids for the vending solution and short-listed five entities, including EasyPay.
A presentation, including a demonstration covering the solution, was set to be held in February to test the suitability of the offerings. However, the evening before the demonstration was set to take place, EasyPay was still asking Centlec to provide technical details that would enable it to take part in the demonstration.
Some 51 minutes before the start of the demonstration, Centlec provided EasyPay with the IP link that it needed, leaving the solutions provider without sufficient time to participate. The Net1 unit asked for a postponement, but was then told by Centlec that it had been disqualified, because it did not take part in the compulsory demonstration.
Subsequently, Centlec cancelled the demonstration, which it argued EasyPay was aware of, and there was, as a result, no reason for EasyPay to be absent. The judge could find no disqualification criteria in the tender document that would leave EasyPay out of the running.
"Logic dictates that short-listed bidders may from time to time be called upon to make presentations or give demonstrations, especially in a technical field as in casu, but it is a different matter to, without clear warning, disqualify a non-compliant bidder forthwith... The mere fact that Centlec was prepared to reschedule the demonstration for the following week supports the applicant's [EasyPay's] assertion that it was not fully briefed."
Centlec argued that EasyPay's request for more information was a fishing expedition, wrote the judge. ITWeb attempted unsuccessfully to get comment from Centlec.
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