Electronic auctions are a popular way to resolve various issues regarding government procurement or the acquisition of goods or services by various companies. The procedure is considered simple and quick, as well as not requiring the investment of a significant amount of funds. The auction in electronic form allows numerous performers and producers to take part in it, which ensures freedom of competition in the country. The bidding process of Federal Law No. 44 is regulated.
The concept of electronic auctions
This procedure consists in conducting tenders using special trading floors called ETP for short. This method of choosing a manufacturer or contractor is considered beneficial for each company and the entire state.
Features of the process include:
- All suppliers who can provide the necessary goods or provide services are preliminary notified of an online auction;
- information about this process is published in the Unified Information System;
- any interested person who meets the requirements of the customer represented by the bidder can participate in such an auction.
To participate in these tenders you only need to correctly submit the appropriate application at a site selected in advance. The choice of the winner is based only on the offered price, therefore the company or the private person who has offered the lowest cost for their services or goods wins the auction.
Types of auctions
There are several varieties of such trades. An auction in electronic form can be represented by the following types:
- Basic or simple. It is carried out only after all available applications from performers or manufacturers are examined. To participate in such tenders, all participants must submit applications to which their documents are attached. The documentation should contain information that the contractors meet the requirements of the customer. Be sure to include a description of the subject of the purchase represented by the service, product or work. Additionally, there is information about the contractor, therefore copies of constituent documents, permits and other papers are transmitted. As soon as all the performers who are suitable for the existing conditions are selected, a decision is made about who is allowed to bid. A special protocol is published by the customer after summing up, which sets out the procurement provisions. Bidding is held on the appointed day. The winner is the participant who offers the lowest price. Federal Law No. 233 indicates that it is allowed to reduce the cost to zero, and then go on to increase.
- A complex auction in which applications for participation in an electronic auction are submitted in two stages. It is considered specific, but more transparent, therefore it is characterized by high efficiency of use. Such tenders are held in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Law No. 94. The essence of conducting open auctions in electronic form under such conditions is that all bidders submit an application in two parts. The content of each part is determined by the direct customer. Such tenders are held exclusively in electronic form, since only such conditions guarantee the anonymity of participants. After the decision is made, tenders are held. All companies participate in the auction in electronic form under certain numbers, so it is impossible to find out their name. The winner is selected at the lowest bid. Next, the second part of the applications is considered, where there is information about the participants, presented by their charters, permits, certificates and other papers. Some participants may decline at this point. The winner is a company that is admitted to participate in both parts and offers the lowest price.
Thus, each type of online auction has its own rules and features. Simple bidding is most commonly used, but large state-owned companies prefer to use transparent and effective sophisticated auctions.
What is the auction step set?
When drawing up procurement provisions, the customer must indicate what the auction step will be. It can be presented in several versions:
- fixed, involving the installation of approximately 5% of the minimum initial price;
- floating, at which certain percentage frames are set;
- with a decrease in step, if there are no suitable offers, for example, if a rate of 5% is set, then in the absence of offers it will be reduced by several percent;
- an arbitrary number implies the possibility of reducing the price even by 1 kopeck, but this option is used extremely rarely, as this often leads to an artificial delay in trading.
An open auction in electronic form is most often held with a floating step, since such a solution is considered effective. The restriction in this case can be not only in percent, but even in total.
Bidding time
The customer independently decides how long the auction will be held. To conduct a trading auction, you can choose two options:
- a fixed time is set during which the auction will be held, for example, the procedure starts at 10:00 and ends at 15:00, but this option is not considered very effective, since it is not always possible to get the desired result by the end of the process;
- auction with extension until the last bid is received, for example, the process starts at 10:00, and ends when the last bid is submitted.
The selected option must be indicated in the procurement regulations. It is additionally indicated whether the auction will be ordinary or electronic.
Open or closed?
An auction in electronic form may be open or closed. Each option has its own nuances. In the first case, information about the auction is published on the official website of the enterprise, as well as on the selected electronic site where the auction will be held. Under such conditions, each company can submit an application for participation in an open auction in electronic form.
If there is no publication of tenders in open sources and on the official website of the customer, then the company may choose to conduct a closed auction. Under such conditions, a procurement plan is not included in the bidding, and only persons specially invited by the purchaser are bidders.
Even when using an open auction, it is not allowed to publish in different sources information that is a state secret or included in the procurement information for which a decision was made by the Government. All this information is listed in the Federal Law No. 223
Additionally, each customer has the right not to publish procurement information if no more than 500 thousand rubles are spent on them.
Advantages of open auctions
Organizing an auction in electronic form has many undeniable advantages. The advantages of open bidding include:
- even organizations located at a considerable distance from the location of the customer can participate in tenders;
- even foreign companies are allowed to participate;
- a good level of competition is ensured;
- the possibility of corruption is reduced;
- conducting an auction on the basis of electronic platforms does not require spending a lot of time or money on placing an application or on bidding;
- even small companies can win large government orders;
- the possibility of using non-price competitive methods is prevented;
- all procedures are carried out in a short period of time;
- processes are open and transparent;
- all bids are confidential, and the auction is highly secure;
- All participants have equal rights.
For many enterprises, this way of participating in the auction is still considered unusual. Therefore, some firms are wary of the electronic form of participation in the auction. But usually business leaders recognize the convenience and attractiveness of this process.
When is it done?
All the nuances of this auction should be guided by the requirements of the law. According to the Federal Law No. 44, an electronic auction is held by the customer if he needs different works, services or goods, and it does not matter which product classifier is installed. But this takes into account the limitations of this law.
There are some situations where it is certainly required to use electronic auction sites for procurement. These include:
- purchase of agricultural goods;
- the provision of agricultural services;
- performance of work related to the mining sector;
- purchase of food or drink;
- purchase of paper or equipment for computers;
- construction work;
- purchase of drugs.
Each region may establish its own list of procurements or works for which electronic bidding is required. Even in the above list, according to Federal Law No. 44, an electronic auction is not always held. For example, it is not required if it is planned to carry out construction work under difficult or specific conditions. Additionally, this includes the purchase of food products for various educational institutions, since the leadership of such institutions may decide to conduct tenders in which a limited number of companies will participate.
According to the Federal Law No. 44 (Article 59), an auction in electronic form may provide for the possibility of applying various exemptions in relation to the obligations of tendering. For example, if a price is initially set that does not exceed 500 thousand rubles, the customer can request quotes even if the ongoing auction is not included in the mandatory list.
The nuances of bidding on state orders
The state effectively uses various tenders to provide companies with government orders. Such an activity is considered effective and profitable for companies, and it is even equated with various benefits or subsidies offered to business.
By law, customers represented by the state or municipalities are required to provide up to 20% of supplies to small businesses. This is due to the fact that small firms can concentrate on specialized and narrow goods and offers, so they can supply really high-quality goods.
State orders can be placed by various methods, which include:
- tendering represented by electronic auctions;
- request for quotes;
- purchasing goods from a single supplier or performing work by one contractor.
Quotation request is rarely used, since in this case the price of the lot itself should not exceed 500 thousand rubles. For government orders, this price is considered too low. Competitions are held in the presence of specific purchases, for which it is necessary to conduct an assessment not only at cost, but also at other significant factors.
Therefore, the most commonly used accessible and easy to use electronic auctions. They not only save a lot of time and money, but are also an effective method of combating corruption schemes. Due to their use, high transparency of transactions is guaranteed.
Auction process
The procedure is divided into several stages, and each of them has its own nuances and features.
Companies themselves must know how to complete the process in order to get a profitable contract.
Auction Search
Initially, firms must find the best options for applying. To do this, go to the Official All-Russian website, where one can submit applications a week or 20 days before the start of trading.
An auction is selected taking into account the specifics of the company, and also takes into account the initial maximum bid price. There are 5 electronic platforms in Russia: Sberbank AST, RTS-tender, OJSC MICEX State Procurement, State Unitary Enterprise Agency for State Order, Investment Activity and Interregional Relations of the Republic of Tatarstan.
Each site has its own list of auctions and the ability to search for suitable bids.
EDS registration
To participate in electronic bidding, the company must have an electronic digital signature. It is purchased at certification centers that are accredited at a specific electronic site where it is planned to participate in the auction.
Making an EDS is not considered a very complicated process, but it takes about three days. It is on the basis of such a signature that each electronic document can be assigned legal status. Due to this, each participant has a liability for all decisions made during the auction.
Accreditation
The next stage involves accreditation at the selected site. To do this, fill out the appropriate form on the site’s site.
The constituent documents of the company, the decision protocol and other papers are attached to the application. Preliminarily evaluated all the requirements of the organization. Additionally, the browser is correctly configured.
Consideration of an application for an electronic auction is carried out within five days, after which access to participation in tenders is confirmed. If there is a negative decision, then it must be due to good reason, therefore, obstacles and errors must be listed. There are no restrictions on the number of attempts to pass accreditation.
After accreditation, access is granted to the user's personal account, with the help of which applications for participation in tenders are submitted.
Money transfer
To participate in the auction requires the presence of the right amount of money in the account.
If representatives of small business are involved, then approximately 2% of the initial price of the order is required to be transferred. In other situations, the payment is 5% of this value. Only if you have the right amount of funds can you send an application.
Application Formation
To participate in the auction, it is important to correctly form a request. For this, all official documents on the site are preliminarily studied. The application consists of two parts:
- the first anonymous part includes the consent of the company to the supply of goods or the provision of services, as well as their characteristics;
- the second part includes information about the participant himself, therefore, documents confirming the company's compliance with the requirements of the purchaser are attached to it.
As soon as the deadline for filing applications, an electronic auction protocol is created, which contains information about who is admitted to participation.
Direct auction
Participants in the bidding process must take into account how much time is left until the end of the auction, as well as what is its step. Each participant has only 10 minutes to decide on a lower price.
Bidding will be completed if after 10 minutes there is no more advantageous offer from other companies. Next, a protocol is automatically compiled containing data on the best rates. All participants are represented by numbers, so it is impossible to understand which company won.
At the end of the auction, customers receive information about the contractor, for which the contents of the second part of the bids are disclosed. The winner is sent a contract. At the same time, collateral is provided equal to 30% of the initial maximum cost.
Thus, electronic auctions are considered a profitable, efficient and reliable way to select an artist for various orders. They are held only on a limited number of sites. Accreditation at the site is required to bid. The process of participation in the auction involves the implementation of several successive stages. Due to participation in tenders, fair and free competition between different companies is ensured.