The contracting authority must clearly explain why a zero price is allowed
If your competitor submits a price of zero euros and it is accepted, the contracting authority must precisely justify why that zero price is valid.
What happened?
A company bid on a radio dispatching contract for Brussels Mobility. Its competitor (Lombardi) submitted a price of 0 euros for one phase because it was already the current operator. The city accepted this without clearly explaining how a zero price could be logical. The court said: zero is unusual — you must precisely explain why a company would work for free.
Why does this matter?
This ruling shows that abnormal prices — including zero — are a red flag. The contracting authority must not only say 'accepted', but precisely justify why it is risk-free. This protects you against unfair competition.
The lesson
If you see competitors submitting zero prices, study how the contracting authority justifies this. If the reasoning is vague or inconsistent, appeal and challenge the justification — not the zero price itself, but how it was justified.
Check yourself
Do you have prices in your bid that deviate significantly from market standard? Make sure you can justify them yourself.