A bidder was selected as the winner of a tender to perform road marking works, even though it was not registered in the contractors register and with contrary to the terms of the tender.
The Court accepted the petition and annuled the decision due to the tender committee's disregard of the terms of the tender. The basis of the Israeli tender laws is the value of equality. An authority must act in accordance with rules that are designed to ensure equality and prevent bias and the appearance of bias. Changing the terms of the tender retrospectively creates the appearance of bias and may create an image that the new conditions were set for the purpose of adapting them to the bidder with whom they wish to contract in the tender. Also, changing the terms of the tender retrospectively harms equality, not only among the participants in the tender but also in relation to potential bidders who were prevented from entering the tender due to non-compliance with the terms of the tender. Here, according to the terms of the tender, the participants in the tender must be contractors registered in the Contractors Register. However, the tender committee concluded in retrospect that, contrary to what was stated in the tender, it is possible to be satisfied with the experience and certification of Netivei Israel and the Ministry of Transportation and there is no need for a contractor classification in order to carry out the works. The Tenders Committee and the Municipality Council ignored the fact that the winning company does not meet the terms of the tender, because the bidder is not a contractor registered in the Contractors Registry, and thus changed the terms of the tender retrospectively. Therefore, the decision of the tenders committee is annulled and the hearing will revert to the it for further discussion.