Paper Bids in the Age of Digitalization: A Violation or a Legitimate Practice?

Karel Masopust published a professional article on the EPRAVO.CZ portal addressing the current issue of paper bids in public procurement procedures.

The digitization of public procurement has been mandatory for public contracting authorities since 2018. Nevertheless, in practice, we still encounter situations where a contracting authority permits or accepts a bid in paper form. However, not all such errors are equally serious.

The key is, above all, to distinguish between two situations:

1. Unequal treatment: The contracting authority allows paper submissions only to a specific supplier, while others must proceed electronically. This is a typical violation of the principle of equal treatment, and the risk of sanctions from the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) is high.

2. Equal treatment: The contracting authority allows paper submissions to all suppliers equally—in advance, clearly, and in the tender conditions. In such a case, the typical element of unequal treatment is absent, and although formally it is still a deviation from the rules, its severity should be assessed more cautiously.

An important context is provided by the Public Procurement Act itself, which in Section 107(1) expressly permits paper-based bids—and the Supreme Administrative Court confirmed this in a March 2025 ruling. A contracting authority that relied on the valid wording of the law should therefore not bear administrative liability simply because the legislature did not consistently follow through on its intentions.

The full article is available on the EPRAVO.CZ : https://www.epravo.cz/top/clanky/listinne-nabidky-v-ere-elektronizace-prestupek-nebo-legitimni-postup-120865.html