Smartmatic deal almost in the bag?

Technology provider Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp. is just a couple of steps from bagging the P2.5-billion contract for the lease of 23,000 optical mark readers (OMRs) for the May 2016 elections.

In a resolution dated July 9, the Commission on Elections special bids and awards committee recommended to the Comelec that a “notice of award” be issued to the Venezuelan-based company after it was deemed to have complied with the requirements of the project.

According to the committee, Smartmatic-TIM had submitted the lowest calculated responsive bid for the lease of the OMRs with option to purchase. The company submitted a bid of P1.72 billion for the project—P780,000 lower than the approved budget.

The bid committee’s recommendation came on the heels of an en banc decision reversing the disqualification of Smartmatic-TIM from the post-qualification evaluation stage of the bidding for the project.–Jocelyn R. Uy