Bid-rigging suspected in 30 tenders worth RM108mil, says minister

 Armizan Mohd Ali says MyCC found evidence of anti-competitive practice involving food supply and cleaning contracts across 12 public sector entities.

Domestic trade and cost of living minister Armizan Mohd Ali said the tenders included the supply of cooked food to schools and public higher education institutions. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR:

The Malaysian Competition Commission (MyCC) has flagged 30 government tenders worth RM108.3 million for the supply of food and cleaning services involving 18 enterprises, says domestic trade and cost of living minister Armizan Mohd Ali.

Armizan said MyCC had issued proposed action against the enterprises on Oct 13.

“The tenders involved 12 public sector entities, comprising six ministries, three public higher education institutions, two state Islamic religious departments, and one federal statutory body.

“The total procurement value of the 30 tenders was RM108.3 million,” he said when winding up the debate on the 2027 budget for his ministry in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Among the evidence found were centralised coordination and preparation of tender documents, exchange of information including proposed bid prices, and financial sharing, he said.

Armizan also said MyCC found evidence of human resource sharing among the firms involved.

His remarks come as the education ministry looks into several companies that shared the same registered address, amid allegations of a possible cartel or collusion in tenders for cooked food supply services under Phase Two of the 2026 procurement exercise, covering the 2027 to 2029 period.

Separately, Armizan said MyCC had taken enforcement action against 58 companies over suspected bid-rigging, issuing proposed and final decisions that resulted in penalties totalling RM98.49 million.

He said MyCC was also investigating 510 companies suspected of involvement in similar activities, involving tenders worth more than RM3 billion, across the public and private sectors. - FMT