Under the legislation in force, i.e. Law No 98/2016 on public procurement, contracting authorities shall treat economic operators equally and without discrimination and shall act in a transparent and proportionate manner. The same legislative act provides that any economic operator has the right to participate in an award procedure as a tenderer or a candidate, individually or jointly with other economic operators.

After entering the procedure, the economic operator may submit their tender in accordance with the specific technical requirements that are available on the website https://www.e-licitatie.ro/ or may be obtained by submitting a request to that effect to the Authority for the Digitalisation of Romania operating the electronic public procurement system.

All documents submitted in a tender by an economic operator must be signed with an advanced electronic signature, based on a qualified certificate and issued by an accredited certification service provider.

The portal used to submit a tender is the Electronic System for Public Procurement (ESPP), used for the purpose of electronic application of award procedures and publication of notices at national level, accessible at: https://www.e-licitatie.ro/

For tutorials on submission of a tender, please consult the DEMO section as well as the user manuals for both economic operators and contracting authorities available on that website.

The procedures for public procurement, the award of public contracts and the organisation of design contests, as well as the specific instruments and techniques that can be used to award contracts are governed by EU and national rules providing the necessary legal framework for the procurement of goods, works and services.

Participation in public tenders: rules and procedures

The award procedures applicable to public contracts/framework agreements or the organisation of design contests are the following: open tender, restricted tender, competitive negotiation, competitive dialogue, innovation partnership, negotiation without prior publication, design contest, award procedure applicable to social services and other specific services, simplified procedure.

The thresholds for the award procedures referred to above which determine different rules below the EU thresholds are listed in Article 7(1) to (5) of Law No 98/2016.

The situations in which a tenderer may be excluded from an award procedure are the following: establishment of a criminal group, corruption offences, money laundering, the economic operator is under insolvency or liquidation proceedings, the prior participation of the economic operator in the preparation of the award procedure which led to a distortion of competition.

The period during which a tender may be submitted by an economic operator is by the closing date for the submission of a tender, which shall be indicated in the tender documentation.

In accordance with the rules in force, the tender includes the financial proposal, the technical proposal and other documents established in the tender documentation.

The method for submitting electronic invoices is not regulated by the legislation in the field.

A person who considers themselves to have been harmed by an act of the contracting authority may refer the matter to the competent bodies with a view to annulling the act of the contracting authority, ordering it to issue an act or adopt remedial measures, and having the alleged right or legitimate interest recognised.

Complaint lodged by administrative means – National Council for Solving Complaints

The different time limits laid down in the legislation are as follows:

• 10 days when the estimated value is above the value thresholds for which submission for publication to the Official Journal of the EU is mandatory
• 7 days when the estimated value of the procurement procedure is below the thresholds for which submission for publication to the Official Journal of the EU is mandatory
• Date of publication of the notice of initiation of the procedure for awarding the documentation, if the complaint concerns the content of the tender award documentation

No later than 3 days from receipt of the appeal, the contracting authority may take remedial measures that are to be communicated to: the appellant, the other economic operators and the NCSC.

If the applicant considers that the measures adopted are sufficient, they shall submit a request to withdraw the complaint to the NCSC and the contracting authority.

The contracting authority has the right to conclude the contract only after the decision of the NCSC on the resolution of the complaint.

Time limits for NCSC to resolve the complaint

• 20 days – NCSC shall solve the complaint on the merits within 20 days of receipt of the public procurement, sector procurement or concession file; this may be extended by 10 days in duly justified cases.
• 10 days in the event of an exception impeding the examination of the complaint on the merits

Complaint lodged with the courts

When the competent authority and/or any person considers themselves to have been injured by the decisions made by the NCSC, they may lodge a complaint with the competent court on the grounds of illegality and lack of justification.

Time limits for lodging a complaint

• 10 days after notification of the NCSC’s decision to the parties to the case
• 10 days after becoming aware by other injured parties

Competent court

The court with jurisdiction to hear the complaint lodged against the decision of the NCSC is the Court of Appeal, the Administrative and Tax Litigation Division, within whose jurisdiction the contracting authority is established. Complaints are examined by specialised procurement panels.

The National Council for Solving Complaints (NCSC) is an independent body with administrative and judicial activities, the organisation and functioning of which are governed by Law No 101/2016 on remedies and appeals concerning the award of public procurement contracts, sectorial contracts and of works concession contracts and service concession contracts.