Court accepts case against smart meters tender winner

The Council of State, Greece’s Supreme Administrative Court, has accepted a case filed by OTE (Hellenic Telecommunications Organization) Intrakat and Intrasoft International, the losing bidding team of a pilot tender concerning the installation of an initial lot of 200,000 digital power meters in various parts of the country. This development challenges a decision by HEDNO, the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator, to declare Intracom Telecom, the tender’s other participant, as the winning bidder.

The court’s decision, announced yesterday, suspends a previous ruling by HEDNO, announced on January 12, which rejected a preliminary appeal filed by the losing bidder.

As HEDNO took some time to respond to this appeal, the trio to interpret the lack of a response as a silent rejection and subsequently filed a legal case to the Council of State.

The tender, which has developed into an ordeal, will now require further time to be completed.

In its decision, the Council of State supports that the winning bid was incomplete as supply and installation costs for 50,000 smart meters were not included.

A budget worth 86.5 million euros was prepared for the pilot project. OTE-Intrakat-Intrasoft International submitted a bid worth 62 million euros while Intracom Telecom’s offer was worth 46 million euros.