Tenerife On-Demand Transport Bidding Resumes After Tribunal Ruling

The bidding process for on-demand transport in five mid-mountain areas of Tenerife is back on track. It was previously halted due to complaints, but the Procurement Tribunal has now resolved them. Eulalia García, Tenerife's Minister of Mobility, announced that the new, approved rules for the tender will be published soon. These rules have been updated to fix the issues that led to a company's appeal.

Ms. García explained that the tender was put on hold "in late August or early September." She added that the process is public, and everyone involved, including local councils, knows about it. The minister confirmed she signed the document recommending the suspension be lifted. She downplayed the situation, saying it's "normal for appeals to be filed against some tenders." In this case, there were "three appeals of two different kinds." Two similar, almost identical, appeals came from taxi drivers. They focused on specific transport issues in Icod de los Vinos. Their main concerns were about the maximum age allowed for vehicles providing the service and the tender rules that would let Uber-style vehicles participate, which they felt would harm taxi drivers.

The island council (Cabildo) was particularly worried about a complaint from one of the companies concerning the logistics platform. Eulalia García explained that this was because there might have been a mismatch between the tender rules and a report, which could significantly affect the entire process and who wins the contract. The Mobility department is now waiting for the Procurement Tribunal to officially publish its decision. The tribunal has rejected the taxi drivers' appeals but accepted the one from the technology company.

The technology company's appeal argued that the original tender rules had "a major contradiction that seriously undermined their legal validity." This contradiction was about the requirement for companies to have a National Security Scheme (ENS) conformity certificate. The company appealing claimed it wasn't clear if this was a mandatory requirement to prove a company's technical ability. To address this ambiguity and potential data protection risk, the initial proposal included "supplementary alternatives" that were not clearly defined in the technical report.

The appeal argued that this requirement would go against the principle of fair competition and participation. The minister explained, "We surveyed the market, and when we first published the tender, no companies had the medium-level ENS certificate." She gave an example: "Titsa, a public company of the Cabildo, has it, but it doesn't develop technology platforms. At that time, no other companies were certified at that medium level." Ms. García clarified that "the IT service, with advice from the Procurement service, suggested that alternative and flexible measures were possible." However, "there were concerns that this could further complicate and delay the tender, which is why we decided to suspend it."

The new rules change the requirement for companies to have the medium-level ENS certificate. However, the tender "will now resume and move forward" and will be published. Legal reports confirm that "this change doesn't affect the financial aspects or any other conditions."

The overall project for on-demand public transport is expected to cost 10 million euros. The tender for designing this project will be for 2.4 million euros. This service will be provided in five specific areas of Tenerife, with each area having its own separate tender: Isla Baja, Tacoronte-El Sauzal-La Matanza, Santa Úrsula-La Victoria, Arafo-Güímar, and La Guancha-San Juan de la Rambla. A sixth part of the project, which was the focus of the main appeal, covers technology services, coordination, and user support, similar to a call center.