Three companies that colluded in the bidding for a closed-circuit television (CCTV) security system purchased by Korea Gas Corporation were detected.
The Fair Trade Commission noted on the 19th that it would impose a total penalty surcharge of 37 million won on VU Tech, Nexchal, and OTS for violating the Fair Trade Act. VU Tech must pay 18 million won, Nexchal 13 million won, and OTS 6 million won.
These companies are suspected of having colluded by agreeing on the winning bidder and bidding prices in three tenders held from October to December 2022. It was also revealed that they organized collusion by proxy-preparing specifications for the bidding.
In particular, VU Tech had previously been caught colluding in bids and received restrictions on participating in tenders from Korea Electric Power Corporation from June to December 2022. However, it was investigated that VU Tech led the collusion again by involving other companies due to management difficulties.
According to the Fair Trade Commission, VU Tech participated in the bidding through Nexchal and OTS during the period when its bidding participation was restricted and proceeded with contracts in a manner where it took the lead in project execution.
The Fair Trade Commission stated that while it did not find direct evidence proving collusion agreements among the companies during the investigation, it determined that collusion was established based on the identical format and content of the submitted bidding documents.
For instance, the specification bids submitted by each company were contained in identical packaging boxes, and the same typographical errors, such as "log file" and "reference item," were included.
A Fair Trade Commission official said, "While no direct evidence of communication was found, this case recognized an unfair joint action through legal presumptions of agreement," adding that it would contribute to the expansion of legal application in similar collusion cases in the future.