Hong Kong’s competition watchdog sues 5 IT firms for collusion in bid-rigging in first action under new law

Competition Commission alleges that BT Hong Kong and Nutanix obtained ‘dummy’ bids from ‘friends’ at three other firms to meet YWCA tender rules.

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Mark Hoskins is representing the regulator. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 6:53pm, 20 Jun 2018Updated: 9:15pm, 20 Jun 2018

Any form of bid rigging is a serious breach of the competition law no matter the method or who is involved, Hong Kong’s antitrust tribunal heard on Wednesday in its first case since the ordinance was fully implemented in December 2015.

The city’s antitrust regulator, the Competition Commission, has taken five information technology companies to the tribunal for alleged bid rigging involving a tender issued by a social services organisation, the Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), in July 2016.

The hearing is expected to last for 19 days with 12 witnesses set to testify.

The commission’s complaint stems from a YWCA tender for the installation of a new server system based on technology from Nutanix Hong Kong.

The five firms involved in the case are Nutanix and four IT suppliers – BT Hong Kong, which is part of British telecoms giant BT, SiS International, Innovix Distribution, and Tech-21 Systems.

Nutanix is one of five firms involved in the case. Photo: Handout

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