Procurement of Mobile Phone Services for the Ministries and Institutions of the State of Palestine

●      Episode No. (7)

●      Dated 19-9-2023

-        " Equal opportunities were not given to everyone to compete"

-        A report by the General Department of Economic Oversight, in the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB), in its annual report for 2022, revealed that the procurement of mobile phone services for the benefit of the ministries and institutions of the State of Palestine was marred by cases of entrenching monopoly, by cancelling the principle of free competition. The report aimed to verify the extent of compliance by the public telecommunications companies with the mobile phone service purchase agreements for the benefit of the ministries and institutions of the State of Palestine, to reveal violations and deviations if any were found... The report also contained the main recommendations that the SAACB believes would strengthen transparency and integrity in the management of public funds, and enhance trust, transparency and credibility in contracting procedures with the mobile telecommunications companies, and assist decision makers in raising work quality according to international best practices!

-        Mobile Phone Service Supply Agreement

-        The agreements were signed with the two companies Wataniya Mobile (currently Ooredoo), and Jawwal, although Wataniya Mobile provided fewer services than the competing company, contrary to the provisions of Article (7) of the Law of Public Supplies No. 9 of 1998 and its instructions, which were in force when the agreement was first signed in 2015 and which set the foundations of procurement operations by adopting the principle of competition in the procurement process, in addition to obtaining the best offers and the best prices.

-        Monopoly and the elimination of free competition

-        Where equal opportunities were not given to everyone to compete, contrary to the directives of the President, requiring the application of the principle of fairness and equity in services provided to the government and acting to prevent monopoly in the letters addressed to him, and the supply of the service was divided between the two companies..

-        Renewal of agreements in 2022

-        The agreements with the supplying companies were renewed in 2022 without announcing a specific tender and by accepting offers from the two companies only, without any general or special contracting specifications or conditions..

-        Telecommunications companies' contracts: Mechanism for allocating lines between the two companies:

-        The mobile phone lines for the ministries and institutions were not distributed equally between the two companies, as in 2015, where the total number of lines reached 21,549 lines, of which 6,035 lines were for Ooredoo at 28%, and 15,514 lines were for Jawwal at 72%, without clear criteria for distribution..!

-        The distribution of subscriptions between the two companies limited communication among the employees of the ministries and various institutions, within a closed circle!

-        The Ministry of Finance did not ensure the collection of due financial rights in respect of the monthly installments for devices whose prices were included in the monthly invoices issued by the companies, and were not received.

-        Added services that are inappropriate!

-        Adding services to the agreement that do not serve institutional work, in an exaggerated and unnecessary manner, despite the possibility of dispensing with them in exchange for a reduction in program prices, such as minutes to other networks — within the Green Line — minutes to mobile — Jordanian, free SMS to other networks — within the Green Line — minutes to the fixed line in Jordan.

-        Increase in the cost of the new bill:

-        The cancellation of the device supply clause in the new agreements, and the reduction of some services compared to the old ones, such as Internet packages, led to an increase in the cost of the new agreement compared to the old agreements.

-        The SAACB's preliminary report was not responded to by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology..!