Toll Systems RfP in Slovakia: Consortium around Kapsch TrafficCom files suit with the District Court in Bratislava

The consortium around Kapsch TrafficCom filed a suit with the District Court in Bratislava today regarding the contract awarding process for the construction and operation of the electronic truck toll system and, at the same time, submitted what is now the third legal complaint to the Slovakian anti-trust authority.

"We are having the decision of the customer - the Slovakian road operator (NDS) - inspected by the District Court. We still believe that the reasons for our elimination from the toll system process and, above all, the manner in which the offers were decided upon are not tenable from either a legal or a technical perspective. With more than 140 installed toll systems in 30 countries around the world, we know very precisely what parameters are required for a functioning toll system", explains Erwin Toplak, Board of Directors Member, Kapsch TrafficCom AG.

Kapsch considers the customer’s process for evaluating the technical conformity of the offers to be discriminatory, particularly with regard to evaluating the effectiveness of toll collection among the individual bidders. "Under the conditions specified by the customer, and above all from a technical perspective, efficiency and security in toll collection are absolutely not possible. We are therefore convinced that the offers of other bidders contained in part untrue and distorted statements with the clear goal of achieving a higher point score and advantages in the evaluation. Security and efficiency in the collection of tolls are counted among the main criteria of the process and should be verified very carefully by the customer", says Erwin Toplak.

At the end of June 2008, the consortium submitted another complaint regarding the discriminatory process of the customer to the anti-trust authority. The anti-trust authority has issued a preliminary injunction in this regard. This means that the customer cannot name the winner of the toll tender until a decision regarding this complaint has been issued. The decision of the anti-trust authority is expected by the end of July 2008.
 

Kapsch TrafficCom is an international supplier of innovative road traffic telematics solutions. Its principle business is the development and supply of electronic toll collection (ETC) systems, in particular for the multi-lane free-flow (MLFF) of the traffic, and the technical and commercial operation of such systems. Kapsch TrafficCom also supplies traffic management systems, with a focus on road safety and traffic control, and electronic access systems and parking management. With more than 140 reference projects in 30 countries in Europe, Australia, Latin America, in the Asian/Pacific region and in South Africa, and with almost 12 million on-board units (OBUs) and nearly 11,000 equipped lanes, Kapsch TrafficCom has positioned itself among the leading suppliers of ETC systems worldwide. Kapsch TrafficCom is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and has subsidiaries and representative offices in 20 countries.

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