The Finance Ministry is considering reducing median bidding prices for state procurements after statistics showed that bidders have been quoting 17-18% below the expected cost since the introduction of electronic bidding.
Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said the government had relied on e-bidding over the past three years. This had helped save approximately 90 billion baht, or around 30 billion a year.
Speaking at the Asean Countries Public Procurement Knowledge Exchange Forum in Bangkok on Wednesday, Mr Apisak said the saving was the result of bidding prices being 17-18% lower than the set median prices.
The Comptroller General’s Department may consider cutting the median prices for items where low quotes have been entered on previous consecutive bids.
He said the private sector can offer lower prices partly because of the reduced global crude oil price. The ministry found that bidders had not dropped out over the three years despite the lower winning prices, which indicated they could still make a profit.
Mr Apisak said e-bidding had helped solve the pricing collusion problem, because no one now knew in advance who would take part in the bidding, unlike traditional submissions which allow bidders to meet prior to bidding time.