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B-190929 1 (1978-03-03)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadftj0001 and id is 1 raw text is: John A. Carter ,~ % FL 1 DE O s - . TMF COMPTfOLI.ER GENERAL DEC1810riCF TME LIPJITEC3 STATES WAIHINGTN. D. C. 204 B-190929 FILE: DATE: March 3, 1978 MATTER OF: Consolidated Ele.ivator Comoany DIGEST: Neither possibility of a buy-r. nor allegation of excessively low bid pro- vides a basis upon which award of con- tract may be challenged. RejecLion of bid for too low price requires a determination of nonresponsibility, and this Office no longer reviews affirmative determination of responsibility absent circumst&nces not present here. Consolidated Elevator -Company, Tnc. (Consolidated), has protested against allegedly unfair price competition in connection with invitation fcr bids (IFB) No. 3-8-19 issuel by the National Park Service for the procurement of elevator maintenance services for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Consolidated, a small business, contends that the Otis Elevator Company (Otis), a large busineiss, has en- gaged in what amounts to predatory pricing fPr the pur- pose of eliminating its small business competitors. Consolidated alleges that Otis reduced its bid signifi- cantly on the present procurement from that bid on earlier procurements although the specifications require increased operating costs and the costs of material and labor have increased. Consolidated suggests that this is only one instance of a developing pattern of Otis significantly reducing its charges when faced with competition from qualified small businesses. Consolidated asks that Otis be disqualified from the present competition on the basis of entering a nonresponsible unbalanced bid and that award be made to the next lowest responsive btdder. -l1 - I M M