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Levy on online tenders will keep business away
DUBAI — The practice of charging bidders for online tenders which is widespread in the Middle East region, especially for public tenders, could keep away businessmen from doing business online and affect volumes of online trading, industry experts say.
According to Rony Tazbaz, regional manager, Ariba Middle East operations, if a bid comes out as a public tender, there are no charges for bidders in Europe and North America, while in the Middle East, Africa and India it is a widespread practice.
"This is bizarre. In Europe and North America you have to qualify for bid, but not to pay for that. In the Middle East they think that by making bidders pay they can actually eliminate unqualified bidders, which is not justified.
"Here for all the public tenders as well as some private tenders, customers have to pay to be able to register and download the tenders. Even Tejari charges for downloading a tender," he explained.
"If you can't or are not willing to pay doesn't mean that you are not qualified for tender and offer proper services, he said, adding that making bidders pay may discourage businessmen from trading on-line.
He said the Middle East was a fast growing region for spend management solutions, which prompted Ariba to expand into the area, which in addition to 16 Arab countries, also includes Turkey. According to some estimates, online transactions in the GCC rose 600 per cent between 2004 and 2005, of which the UAE had 85 per cent share.
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