SUBANG JAYA: The government is currently investigating hundreds of companies believed to be involved in bid rigging during public procurements, Domestic Trade and Consumers Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said.
Bid rigging, or collusive tendering in public procurement, Nanta said, is an open secret that has been exposed over and over again.
Therefore, he said the government through his ministry and the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) have begun efforts to address and combat the problem.
"I believe everyone knows about the bid rigging cartel. It's not a secret and it has been exposed, which is why MyCC has started the necessary efforts to address this issue.
"I don't have the exact figures, but hundreds of companies are currently being investigated.
"Rest assured that whoever is involved is being probed and MyCC has its own plans in going forward in terms of this (bid rigging)," he said during a press conference at Sunway Resort here today.
Later when met by reporters, MyCC chief executive officer Iskandar Ismail revealed that the commission was investigating 20 cases of bid rigging involving 500 companies with tender values of more than RM2 billion.
Bid rigging is a fraudulent scheme in procurement auctions resulting in non-competitive bids and can be performed by corrupt officials, firms in an orchestrated act of collusion, or between officials and firms.
It usually occurs when two or more competitors agree they will not compete genuinely with each other for tenders, allowing one of the cartel members to 'win' the tender. This form of collusion is illegal in most countries.
Earlier, Nanta had officiated the 2022 Malaysia Competition Law Conference at Sunway Resort on behalf of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who was unable to attend the event due to other duties.
In Ismail Sabri's keynote speech, which was read out by Nanta, the prime minister expressed Putrajaya's commitment to ensure a comprehensive Competition Act 2010 that is globally recognised once the amendments to the act are passed.
He said the amendment to the act, specifically on the merger control regime provisions, would provide more powers to the MyCC to assess and investigate merger transactions that could potentially cause market concentration and monopolies.
"We are well aware of how monopoly could cause anxiety among the 'Malaysian Family', especially when it is constantly trying to disrupt competition and prevent the entry of small competitors in the market.
"Bid rigging cartel is a major threat to public procurement leakage because such behaviour will deny the right of bidders to compete fairly, and in turn, the people will be victimised when the government revenue is disrupted.
"The amendments to the Competition Act and the Malaysian Competition Commission Act will empower the MyCC to address common competition issues in the ever-changing economic landscape effectively and efficiently.
"The government is ready as has been informed by MyCC in its cabinet paper to get policy approval for amendments to empower MyCC by increasing its human capital and budget," Ismail Sabri said.
Recently, MyCC in a statement said that parties found implicated in bid rigging conduct in public procurement would be blacklisted by the Finance Ministry for five years.