Procurement of psychological tests was an illegal direct award of contract

Stockholm County Healthcare Services (SLSO) entered into an agreement with two suppliers regarding clinical psychological tests and evaluation tools in April and June 2022. The procurement had a total value of SEK 9.9 million. SLSO did not publish the contract in accordance with the Swedish Public Procurement Act, and motivated the decision with, amongst other things, that the chosen supplier was the only supplier who could deliver the tests due to sole right.

The Swedish Competition Authority holds the view that the exception in procurement legislation in relation to sole right must be used restrictively and be proceeded by a significant market analysis. It is not sufficient that the contracting authority only makes their own judgement of the market.

“The general rule is that procurement must be subjected to competition so that several suppliers on the market can have the possibility of submitting tenders,” says Rikard Jermsten, Director General of the Swedish Competition Authority.

The Swedish Competition Authority is now turning to the Administrative Court in Stockholm, petitioning for Stockholm County Healthcare Services to be ordered to pay a procurement fine of SEK 770,000 for undertaking an illegal direct award of contract.

Anna Görgård, Legal Counsel, +46 (0)8 700 16 67, anna.gorgard@kkv.se
Åsa Lövström, Press Officer, +46 (0)8 700 16 36, asa.lovstrom@kkv.se

Read the application, dnr 262/2023 (in Swedish)