DOZORRO Project Helps Improve Procurement-Related E-Complaints in AMCU

In late January 2024, the PROZORRO system had its method of filing a public procurement complaint with the AMCU changed. For this purpose, a special branched form was developed. Complainants had to enter objections, justifications, evidence, and other information in electronic fields. DOZORRO experts warned SE Prozorro and the Antimonopoly Committee about a number of shortcomings of the new form, in particular its partial inconsistency with the legislation and a complex structure.

“The electronic form, which was supposed to simplify the appeal and, in the future, link it to the electronic tender documentation, in practice led to an increase in workload for both complainants and employees of the Antimonopoly Committee. The former predominantly filled out the form with difficulty and attached a more familiar complaint file to it. The latter had to process both formats to consider the complaint because the form was often filled out incorrectly,” notes Anna Kuts, DOZORRO legal advisor.

After the complainants’ feedback confirmed the reservation, Anna was directly engaged in updating the electronic appeal form:

•     its structure;
•     names and sequence of fields, classifier in the complaint;
•     form completion tips for complainants.

“We thank the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine and the State Enterprise Prozorro for their fruitful cooperation, openness to discussion, and the opportunity to jointly improve the procurement sector. We hope that our work will facilitate the electronic appeal of procurement transactions for all those involved in the process,” concludes Anna Kuts.

The updated version was simplified as much as possible; its structure and terminology were harmonized with the provisions of the law, and its form was brought closer to the structure of the paper complaint already familiar to the complainants. The electronic form will be divided into items and will not have an extensive, complex structure. With the help of an abbreviated classifier of complaints, the appeals body will be able to collect and analyze information on the most frequent violations, summarize experience in the field. 

The material was prepared within the framework of the USAID/UK aid TAPAS Project/Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services.