Courts: the customer reasonably demanded documents on payment for the contract to evaluate experience under Law N 223-FL
Participants in the competition among small and medium-sized businesses were required to submit, in addition to contracts, documents on their payment (bank statements or copies of payment orders) to evaluate their experience. According to the customer, this helped him choose his counterparty more carefully.
The inspectors recognized the customer’s approach as illegal. Three authorities disagreed with them:
• the disputed requirement was established for reasons of due diligence. The wrong choice of counterparty entails administrative, tax and other risks for the customer;
• payment documents confirm the undisputed acceptance of the work result and insure the customer against the risk of assessing qualifications for fictitious transactions;
• documents on payment for contracts were presented only to evaluate experience. Their presence was not a condition of admission.
Note that in practice there is a different opinion.
Document: Resolution of the Moscow District Court of July 9, 2024 in case No. A40-185619/2023.
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