The Education Ministry has rejected a request by a Chinese tablet supplier to extend its delivery date by an additional 150 days after it failed to meet last month's deadline.
A high-ranking source in the Office of the Basic Education Commission, which oversees the tablet auctions, said an extension for delivery is impossible, as it would violate the Procurement Act.
Shenzhen Yitoa Intelligent Control Co won two contracts to supply 800,000 tablets to Prathom 1 students in Zones 1 and 2 in the second phase of the government's One Tablet per Child scheme.
On Wednesday it asked the Education Ministry for a 150-day extension, explaining it faced a shortage of dynamic random-access memory and had to shoulder extra costs due to the weakening baht.
Shenzhen Yitoa failed to deliver all tablets within 90 days of the contract signing last September.
In the second phase, the government spent 4.61 billion baht of the 2013 budget for 1.63 million tablets for Prathom 1 and Mathayom 1 students. Three suppliers won four contracts.
The source said Shenzhen Yitoa also requested a fee waiver for late-delivery penalties.
The Chinese firm is being fined 0.5% of the total tablet cost after it failed to meet its delivery deadline of Dec 24 - 980,000 baht a day for Zone 1 and 1.3 million baht a day for Zone 2.
The source said the contract stipulates the government will pay the tablet suppliers in baht and not in US dollars like in the first phase.
Shenzhen Yitoa claimed it has been forced to shoulder an extra 10% or an additional 180 baht per tablet due to the weakening baht.
The contract also stipulates if the amount of the fine reaches 10% of the total procurement cost, the Thai government has the right to terminate the contract and seize a 60-million-baht deposit from each company for the delivery failure.
Furthermore, the government could seek legal action against the firms to cover the extra costs if the new tablet prices are higher.
Thailand's Jasmine Telecom Systems Plc, which won a contract to supply 402,889 tablets to Mathayom 1 students and teachers in Zone 4, also failed to meet its delivery deadline.
It claimed the exact same problems as the Chinese firm.
Jasmine told the Education Ministry on Thursday it will try to supply the first batch of tablets soon, the source said.