A corruption watchdog group has called on the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) to review its decision to award a natural gas-powered bus procurement contract to a joint venture at a higher price than previous rounds of bidding.
Korn Rupobol, head of the People's Network Monitoring Corruption in the State Sector, yesterday handed a letter to the board of the BMTA, asking it to review its decision to award SCN-CHO a contract to supply 489 natural gas for vehicle (NGV) buses for Bangkok.
Nuttachat Charuchinda, president of the BMTA's board of directors, accepted the letter.
SCN-CHO, a joint venture between Scan Inter Plc (SCN) and Cho Thavee Plc (CHO) emerged as the sole remaining bidder to supply 489 NGV buses after 10 companies pulled out of the race for the 4.02-billion-baht city bus project.
Cho Thavee executive Krin Chayawisut previously said the price SCN-CHO offered was higher than the median value of 4.02 billion baht but still within the 10% margin set by the BMTA, which a BMTA source said was 4.4 billion baht.
Mr Korn said that Cho Thavee, through the JVCC consortium, won the 2015 contract worth 1.7 billion baht, and 2.29 billion for 10-year maintenance costs, but the BMTA later scrapped the bidding when it discovered the agency's terms of reference contradicted the 1996 Administrative Procedure Act.
Cho Thavee controlled half the consortium and Khon Kaen Cho Thavee (1993) the rest. The company filed a lawsuit for damages of 1.5 billion baht, and the case is pending the BMTA's appeal.
In September last year, the BMTA awarded a 3.3-billion-baht contract to Bestlin Group only to revoke it this April after it failed to deliver the buses on time after the Customs Department suspected it of dodging import taxes.
Mr Korn said the latest bidding might have lacked transparency as the bidding was not open.
The BMTA sent invitations to private companies to submit bids on the project.