Public Procurement Service Introduces "Corrective Action Authority" for Internal Bidding by Procuring Entities

A legal basis has been established for the Administrator of the Public Procurement Service to demand corrective action for illegalities that occur during the internal bidding processes of procuring entities.

On January 6, the Public Procurement Service announced that, through the revision of the Act on the Use and Promotion of Electronic Procurement (Electronic Procurement Act), it has acquired the authority to officially demand corrective actions-such as amending bid announcements or changing contract conditions-from procuring entities that violate laws or regulations during their own procurement processes.

Provided by Public Procurement Service

Until now, even if public institutions violated laws or regulations in their own procurement bidding, the Public Procurement Service lacked a legal basis to directly request corrective action. For this reason, there have been ongoing criticisms that it was difficult to prevent unfair bidding practices and to manage them after the fact.

However, with the revision of the Electronic Procurement Act, the Administrator of the Public Procurement Service can now request necessary corrective actions from procuring entities, such as amending or changing bid announcements. Such requests for corrective action can only be made as a preventive measure in cases of clear legal violations or concerns over compromised fairness.

It will also be possible to post related cases and important notes on the electronic procurement system (Nara Marketplace) to prevent the recurrence of similar illegal or unfair practices.

Previously, at the end of last year, the Public Procurement Service established a reporting center for illegal activities related to internal bidding by procuring entities to ensure fairness, and posted major illegal cases on the Nara Marketplace. Starting this year, the agency plans to strengthen monitoring of internal bid announcements by utilizing an expanded dedicated workforce.

Baek Seungbo, Administrator of the Public Procurement Service, stated, "The revised Electronic Procurement Act will play an important role in enhancing the fairness and transparency of public procurement, in line with the expansion of purchasing autonomy for procuring entities. The Public Procurement Service will continue to improve the system by revising the Public Procurement Business Act in the future to introduce the authority to demand corrective action against unfair demands, such as abuse of power by procuring entities."