FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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BMTA to appeal ruling on bus compensation

BMTA to appeal ruling on bus compensation

Court orders state agency to pay Bt1.1bn to bestlin for violating deal

THE BANGKOK Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) plans to appeal a Central Administrative Court order for it to pay more than Bt1.1 billion in compensation to Bestlin Group for unlawfully terminating a procurement contract for 489 new NGV-fuelled buses, a senior official said yesterday.
Deputy Transport Minister Pailin Chuchottaworn said the Transport Ministry, which oversees the state-run operator of public buses in the city, will appeal the verdict within the legal deadline of 30 days.

BMTA to appeal ruling on bus compensation
He expressed confidence that the BMTA would win the case when it is brought to the Supreme Administrative Court.
The new buses purchased by the BMTA are fuelled by natural gas for vehicles (NGV). 
The court on Tuesday ordered the BMTA to pay Bt1.159 billion with an interest of 7.5 per cent per annum to Bestlin for failing to comply with terms of a contract signed by both parties in September 2016 for the purchase and maintenance of the buses.
In May last year, Bestlin brought the case to court after the BMTA scrapped the contract. The court found that Bestlin imported 489 NGV buses and delivered 390 of them to the BMTA.
The court also found that the city bus operator failed to inspect the delivered buses as well as the ones confiscated by the Customs Department on suspicion of customs fraud. 
The company said the buses were assembled in Malaysia to benefit from lower import tariffs among Asean member countries. However, customs authorities suspected the buses were in fact assembled in China and shipped to Malaysia before being imported, in order to benefit from the preferable tariff. 
Due to the confiscation, the buses were not be delivered to the BMTA in time. The city bus operator later cited this in its decision to scrap the contract with Bestlin.
The court ruled that the BMTA’s claim was inconsistent with the fact that its committee overseeing the bus delivery had agreed to allow the company to gradually deliver the buses.
In a related case, the court on Tuesday also granted an injunction against new bids called by the BMTA after scrapping its contract with Bestlin. The plaintiff Siam Standard Energy Co, one of the bid contenders, said the BMTA’s resolution to approve a new procurement contract for 489 buses at a cost of Bt4.2 billion was unlawful. 
Observers were concerned the injunction order could complicate the delivery of buses by the new bid winner SCN-CHO, which is a joint venture between Scan Inter and Cho Thavee. Some 100 new NGV-fuelled buses bought under the new contract are already operating on Bangkok streets. Services of these buses may be suspended as a result, observers said.

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