The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation indicated when the winner of the public procurement may be considered unfair and obligated to return the money
The inspectors found out that the winner of the purchase, contrary to its conditions, submitted an application for participation in the auction without a properly issued license for the provision of services. This was considered unfair competition.
The courts agreed with this interpretation, because other participants with the proper permission could not win the purchase. The winner was obliged to return income to the budget under a partially executed contract. He refused and reached the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.
The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, among other things, called the circumstances under which participation in an auction without a properly issued license and the execution of a contract concluded on its results cannot be considered unfair competition. We are talking about such circumstances:
the procurement commission can detect such a violation of the terms of the auction with the usual care and prudence;
the participant of the purchase did not specifically hide his non-compliance with the requirements of the purchase.
A participant can be accused of unfair competition if he misled the customer in order to gain a competitive advantage, and thereby hindered the work of the commission on the selection of a supplier. An example of such actions is that deliberately false information was indicated in the application and false documents were attached to it.
If the actions of the winner of the purchase are recognized as unfair competition, they may be required to transfer to the budget everything received under the contract.
Document:Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of 17.02.2022 N 7-P