Collusive Tender

LG CNS and ATEC T& Co are accused of colluding to win the bid placed by Korea Smart Card Co. to establish a system for the management of transport card readers in Seoul City.
LG CNS and ATEC T& Co are accused of colluding to win the bid placed by Korea Smart Card Co. to establish a system for the management of transport card readers in Seoul City.

 

South Korea's antitrust watchdog caught LG CNS Co. allegedly colluding to set up a system that oversees the payment of bus and subway fare with plastic cards in Seoul City.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced on March 27 that it has levied a combined 251 million won (US$233,706) in fines on two technology firms – LG CNS and ATEC T& Co. – for violating fair trade laws and issued a correction order. ATEC T& is a subcontractor of LG CNS.

The two companies are accused of colluding to win the bid placed by Korea Smart Card Co. to establish a system for the management of transport card readers in Seoul City. The bid worth 4.34 billion won (US$4.04 million) was made in March 2013.

The system for the management of transport card readers is a central control system that manages and monitors card transactions, fares and operating information through transport card readers in real time. LG CNS won the bid for the second deal as well as the first one in 2004 in collusion.

The FTC fined LG CNS 173 million won (US$161,020) and ATEC T& 78 million won (US$72,585). It said, “The latest move is expected to contribute to the establishment of competition order in bids to build a card reader management system related to public transportation in metropolitan areas in the future.”

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