Competition Commission hoping to stamp out bid-rigging

Newly appointed Competition Commission chairman Jat Sew-tong on Friday said the body hopes to come up with proposed amendments to the Competition Ordinance regarding bid-rigging within this legislative year. This comes after bid-rigging over a building maintenance project was suspected to have taken place at the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po where a massive blaze last year claimed 168 lives. Jat, who took office in May, said the commission is considering different ways to improve the law, such as through introducing criminal liability or increasing civil penalties. “We are looking at all possibilities to see how we could make the ordinance effective and have a sufficient deterrent effect to this kind of behaviour and we hope we could achieve a situation where this kind of behaviour would no longer continue,” he said. The barrister noted that the government has already included a "non-collusion" clause in large-scale renovation project tenders as a way to prevent bid-rigging. “I understand that the government may consider making a requirement that in tenders of that kind, the non-collusion clause will be in the form of a statutory declaration,” he said. “Whoever puts in the tender will have to make a statutory declaration that they are doing it independently, without collusion with any other party. Therefore, making that statutory declaration would by itself attract criminal liability if it is a false declaration.” Jat also said that from July, members of the public will be allowed to attend part of the commission's meetings, as a way to enhance transparency. He said the body is open to suggestions as to how it can carry out its work better. Edited by Thomas McAlinden