Electronic Auction Rules

For the purposes of the Electronic Auction Rules, the following meanings shall be applied:

a) auction value: a value of bids submitted by economic operators during the electronic auction corresponding to numerically expressible evaluation criteria;
b) auction rounds: individual time periods which constitute an electronic auction, and during which economic operators submit new auction values;
c) auction room: the environment where an electronic auction takes place;
d) economic operator: a natural or legal person supplying supplies, providing services, or executing works;
e) electronic auction: a process used to evaluate bids or a separate procurement procedure within which a contracting authority utilizes the NEN system to submit new bid prices, revised downwards, and if applicable, other new bid values, and to form an up-to-date rank of bids using automatic evaluation methods;
f) NEN system: the National Electronic Tool which is an electronic tool pursuant to Section 28 (1)(i) of the ZZVZ;
g) NEN System NEN System User: is a representative of a contracting authority or an economic operator who is properly registered in the NEN system;
h) contracting authority: a person defined as a contracting authority pursuant to Section 2 of the ZZVZ or pursuant to Section 4 of the ZZVZ;
i) ZVZ: Act No. 137/2006 Coll., on Public Contracts, as amended;
j) ZZVZ: Act No. 134/2016 Coll., on Public Procurement.

1. During the electronic auction, the contracting authority is obliged to comply with the ZVZ, the ZZVZ, their implementing regulations, and the Electronic Auction Rules.

2. The contracting authority is obliged to designate at least one person who will perform the role of an e-auction administrator.

3. The contracting authority is entitled to designate at least one person who will perform the role of an e-auction observer on behalf of the contracting authority.

4. During the electronic auction, the contracting authority must not publish identification data of economic operators participating in the electronic auction.

1. During the electronic auction, the economic operator is obliged to comply with the ZVZ, or the ZZVZ, their implementing regulations, the Electronic Auction Rules, and the instructions of the contracting authority and the NEN System Operator.

2. The economic operator is entitled to submit new auction values within the electronic auction in which they are registered.

3. In order to participate in the electronic auction, the economic operator is obliged to designate at least one person who will act as a participant in the e-auction.

4. The economic operator is entitled to designate at least one person who will perform the role of an e-auction observer on behalf of the economic operator.

5. The economic operator is obligated to maintain their identity in anonymity throughout the entire electronic auction.

1. The NEN System Operator ensures the operation of the NEN system module via which electronic auctions are conducted.

2. The NEN System Operator is obliged to notify all economic operators and contracting authorities registered in the NEN system of any outage of the electronic auction module. In the case of a planned maintenance, the NEN System Operator is obliged to announce it at least 10 working days in advance.

3. In the event of technical issues with the e-auction module, The NEN System Operator is obliged to announce this fact immediately both to economic operators and contracting authorities who have the right to participate in the electronic auction. Information about the outage of the e-auction module will be displayed in the publicly accessible part of the NEN system, and all NEN System Users will also be informed about it after logging into the NEN system via a message sent to their internal mailbox. In case of unavailability of the NEN system, a web page with information indicating the NEN system unavailability will be displayed.

4. During the system failure of the NEN system, the indication status of the e-auction module will not be available.

5. During the electronic auction, the NEN System Operator must not disclose identification data of economic operators participating in the electronic auction.

6. The NEN System Operator is obliged to preserve all data related to the conducted electronic auction for a period of 10 years from the conclusion of the contract or the completion of any changes to the contract.

1. Only a person registered in the NEN system and assigned the relevant role by the contracting authority or the economic operator is allowed to participate in an electronic auction and gain access to the specific auction room.

2. A person participating in an electronic auction is obliged to comply with the ZZVZ, the ZVZ, their implementing regulations, the Electronic Auction Rules, and the instructions of the contracting authority and the NEN System Operator during the conduct of the electronic auction.

1. The contracting authority sends an invitation to participate in the electronic auction to the economic operators designated by the contracting authority via the NEN system. Economic operators receive a notification of the invitation in their internal mailbox.

2. In the case where the electronic auction is included as an evaluation method in the procurement procedure, the contracting authority sends an invitation to participate in the electronic auction to all participants of the procurement procedure.

3. In the case of the procurement procedure of a small-scale e-auction, the invitation to participate in the electronic auction may also be published in the NEN System Journal.

4. With the exception of cases where the lowest bid price is the sole evaluation criterion, the invitation to participate in the electronic auction must include at least the following information:

   1. preliminary outcome of the evaluation of a tender submitted by a relevant participant in the electronic auction;

   2. evaluation criteria that will be used to asses new auction values in the electronic auction;

   3. the mathematical formula that shall be used in the electronic auction to determine the automatic re-rankings on the basis of the new values submitted, and that shall incorporate all the evaluation criteria determined for the evaluation of bids;

   4. schedule of the electronic auction, in particular:

      1. date and time of opening the auction room;

      2. number of auction rounds;

      3. date and time of the commencement and termination of each auction round;

      4. rules for postponing the commencement of the auction round;

      5. rules for the automatic prolongation of the auction round - the time interval before the termination of the auction round for applying the prolongation, the time period by which the auction round will be prolonged, and the maximum number of prolongations;

      6. rules for the manual prolongation of the auction round;

      7. rules for terminating the electronic auction pursuant to the article below about the termination of the electronic auction (1).

   5. procedure for submitting auction values, including:

      1. minimum and maximum range for new auction values in relation to the best bid submitted so far;

      2. limitations on entering new auction values from above or below, or

      3. limitations on new auction values from above or below for evaluation purposes.

   6. specification of information to be provided to economic operators during the electronic auction;

   7. notification that all further information necessary for participation in the electronic auction is stipulated in the Electronic Auction Rules.

1. Before entering the auction room, the economic operator is obliged to confirm their participation in the specific electronic auction by performing the action “Registration for the auction room”. Without confirmation of participation, the economic operator shall not be allowed to participate in the electronic auction.

2. Confirmation of participation in the electronic auction can only be executed by an economic operator registered in the NEN system who was invited to participate in the electronic auction. An exception is made in the case of a procurement procedure conducted in the NEN system for a small-scale electronic auction where the invitation to participate in the e electronic auction was published. In such case, any economic operator registered in the NEN system can confirm their participation in the electronic auction.

3. In the case where the electronic auction is included as an evaluation method in the procurement procedure, participation in the electronic auction can only be confirmed by a participant of the procurement procedure.

4. Confirmation of participation is performed by a NEN System User in the role of a participant of the procurement procedure on behalf of the economic operator. If the electronic auction is included as an evaluation method in the procurement procedure conducted in the NEN system, such participant of the procurement procedure performing confirmation of the participation must be authorized to make modifications in the procurement procedure in which the electronic auction is included. This also applies to the procurement procedure of a small-scale electronic auction.

5. It is possible to confirm participation in the electronic auction both before or after the opening of the auction room. The contracting authority is obliged to specify the date of opening the auction room in the award criteria or the invitation to participate in the electronic auction.

6. The auction room shall be accessible to the economic operator after confirming their participation in the auction room.

7. After confirming participation in the electronic auction, the NEN System User who performed the confirmation shall select individuals from their organization in the Organization Management tile to whom the roles and permissions for participating in the electronic auction will be assigned.

8. The economic operator shall appear in the auction room, throughout the entire electronic auction, under an anonymous identifier.

1. Only registered NEN System Users who have been assigned one or more of the following roles have access to the auction room created for a specific electronic auction:

   1. e-auction administrator;

   2. e-auction observer on behalf of the contracting authority;

   3. e-auction participant;

   4. e-auction observer on behalf of the economic operator;

   5. participant in the procurement procedure.

2. The roles mentioned in paragraph 1 are assigned to NEN System Users only in relation to a specific electronic auction.

3. The e-auction administrator is a person who has the right to perform all actions on behalf of the contracting authority during the electronic auction.

4. The e-auction observer on behalf of the contracting authority is a person who has been granted permission by the contracting authority to monitor the course of the electronic auction within the scope of information provided to the contracting authority. The e-auction observer on behalf of the contracting authority is not authorized to perform any actions on behalf of the contracting authority during the electronic auction.

5. The e-auction participant is a person who, on behalf of the economic operator, has the right to perform all actions during the electronic auction, particularly submitting new auction values.

6. The e-auction observer on behalf of the economic operator is a person who has been granted permission by the economic operator to monitor the course of the electronic auction within the scope of information provided to the economic operator. The e-auction observer on behalf of the economic operator is not authorized to perform any actions on behalf of the economic operator during the electronic auction.

1. The electronic auction can be single-round or multi-round. The number of auction rounds is defined by the contracting authority in the award criteria or in the invitation to participate in the electronic auction.

2. Each auction round is initiated at the time specified by the contracting authority in the award criteria or in the invitation to participate in the electronic auction.

3. The economic operator submits auction values within an auction round.

4. For the first auction round, the default auction values are automatically transferred tenders submitted by economic operators in the procurement procedure, if submitted in the procurement procedure, and, simultaneously, if the procurement procedure was conducted via the NEN system.

5. Each new auction value shall represent an improvement over the existing auction value.

6. Economic operators may submit auction values for all evaluation criteria that are subject to the electronic auction.

7. If one of the evaluation criteria, which are subject to the electronic auction, is the bid price, and the contracting authority has specified in the award criteria that the economic operator should state the bid price in a breakdown without VAT, including VAT, and the value of VAT, the economic operator shall submit auction values either only without VAT or including VAT, depending on the evaluation criteria for price expression.

8. If the contracting authority has limited the value of bids in the award criteria, the economic operators shall not be allowed to submit new auction values that will not fit the limits defined by the contracting authority.

9. If the contracting authority has limited the value of bids for evaluation purposes in the award criteria, the auction values from economic operators exceeding the limits defined by the contracting authority will be evaluated as if they were exactly at these limits.

10. If the contracting authority has specified minimum and maximum range for new auction values in the award criteria, the difference between the new auction value and most favourable auction value so far must correspond at least or at most, respectively, to the value defined by the contracting authority. If the new auction value does not meet this condition, the NEN system will not allow such an auction value to be submitted.

11. The auction round ends at the time determined by the contracting authority in the invitation to participate in the electronic auction unless one of the circumstances stated in the article Permitted non-standard course of an auction round (4) and (5) occurs.

12. If the contracting authority has specified conditions in the award criteria or the invitation to participate in the electronic auction under which the auction round will be automatically prolonged, the auction round ends if:

    1. no new auction value has been submitted by any economic operator within the specified time interval, or

    2. the maximum number of prolongations has been reached.

1. The contracting authority is authorized to postpone both the beginning and the end of the auction round. This postponement shall be duly justified by the contracting authority and announced to all economic operators who have the right to participate in the electronic auction no later than 2 hours before the originally scheduled start of the auction round. Furthermore, economic operators will be automatically informed of the postponement of the start of the auction round directly in the auction room, if already opened.

2. In the event of an outage of the NEN system during which the auction round should have been initiated, the contracting authority shall postpone the time limit for the start of the auction round until after the outage is resolved. At the same time, the contracting authority is obliged to inform the affected participants of the electronic auction before the start of the auction round pursuant to Section 121 (6) of the ZZVZ.

3. If an economic operator significantly violates these Electronic Auction Rules, the contracting authority shall exclude such economic operator from participating in the electronic auction. The reasons for excluding the economic operator must be recorded and included in the documentation of the electronic auction conduct. The decision to exclude an economic operator must be promptly communicated to the excluded economic operator by the contracting authority. The excluded economic operator will also be informed of their exclusion directly in the auction room, where they will lose the right to submit new auction values or monitor the course of the electronic auction. The excluded economic operator shall not have the right to participate in any further auction rounds within the respective electronic auction. Auction values submitted by the economic operator excluded from the electronic auction will not be considered. The evaluation will be based on the tender value submitted by the economic operator excluded from the electronic auction before the start of the electronic auction.

4. During the auction round, the contracting authority is authorized to manually prolong the auction round. The contracting authority will use manual prolongation of the auction round primarily in the event of technical difficulties during the auction round, or if one of the economic operators has been excluded during the auction round unless the contracting authority has specified otherwise in the award criteria or in the invitation to participate in the electronic auction. The reasons for prolonging the auction round must be recorded and included in the documentation of the electronic auction conduct. The contracting authority is obliged to promptly announce this manual prolongation to all economic operators who have the right to participate in the electronic auction. Economic operators will also be automatically informed of the prolongation of the auction round directly in the auction room. The auction round cannot be manually prolonged once it has been terminated.

5. Due to persisting technical problems during the auction round, the contracting authority is authorized to terminate the auction round before its scheduled end. The reasons for such termination of the auction round must be recorded and included in the documentation of the electronic auction conduct. In such case, the contracting authority is obliged to specify the date and time of the start and end of the auction round, with which the cancelled auction round will be replaced. The termination of the auction round must be promptly communicated to all economic operators who have the right to participate in the electronic auction. Economic operators will also be automatically informed of the termination of the auction round directly in the auction room.

1. In the event of a technical outage of the tool through which the electronic auction is conducted, the NEN System Operator shall inform the contracting authority and the participating economic operators about the nature of the outage and the estimated duration of the outage.

2. The electronic auction will be automatically interrupted based on the outage.

3. The contracting authority shall decide on the further course of the electronic auction no later than 3 working days from receiving the information about the interruption of the electronic auction.

4. The NEN System Operator shall promptly inform the contracting authority of the end of the technical outage.

1. During the electronic auction, the contracting authority has access to the following information in the auction room:

   1. identification of economic operators participating in the electronic auction;

   2. current ranking of economic operators;

   3. currently submitted auction values from all economic operators participating in the electronic auction;

   4. economic operators excluded from the electronic auction, including the justification;

   5. postponement of the start of the auction round, including the justification;

   6. interruption of the auction round, including the justification;

   7. cancellation of the auction round, including the justification.

2. During the electronic auction, economic operators have access to the following information in the auction room:

   1. their own currently submitted auction values;

   2. their own current ranking or the current most favourable auction value for each of the evaluation criteria, which are subject to the electronic auction;

   3. postponement of the start of the auction round, including the justification;

   4. prolongation of the auction round, including the justification, if the respective auction round is ongoing;

   5. interruption of the auction round, including the justification;

   6. cancellation of the auction round, including the justification.

3. If specified by the contracting authority in the award criteria or in the invitation to participate in the electronic auction, economic operators also have access to the following information in the auction room during the electronic auction:

   1. total number of economic operators participating in the respective auction round if the respective auction round is ongoing;

   2. the economic operator’s own total point score if the bid price is not the sole evaluation criterion;

   3. the total point score of other economic operators authorized to participate in the electronic auction if the bid price is not the sole evaluation criterion;

   4. current auction values submitted by other economic operators participating in the auction round for each of the evaluation criteria, which are subject to the electronic auction.

1. Only the contracting authority and the economic operators are allowed to communicate with each other during the electronic auction.

2. The only permissible form of communication during the electronic auction, apart from submitting auction values, is the on-line discussion available in the auction room.

3. An economic operator may request clarification from the contracting authority in case of uncertainties via the on-line discussion. The contracting authority is obliged to respond to the inquiry promptly and provide the response, along with the inquiry, via the on-line discussion to all economic operators participating in the electronic auction.

4. The contracting authority is authorized to use the on-line discussion to inform the economic operators participating in the electronic auction about matters necessary for the conduct of the electronic auction.

1. The electronic auction ends:

   1. on a predefined date and time,

   2. if the contracting authority does not receive any new auction value during the period specified in the invitation to participate in the electronic auction from the submission of the last auction value, or

   3. with the termination of the last auction round.

2. The auction room is automatically closed after the end of the electronic auction.

The contracting authority is authorized to repeat the electronic auction in case that the selected economic operator has not cooperated in the respective procurement procedure, and the participants of the procurement procedure still remain anonymous among themselves.

1. After each submission of a new auction value, the ranking of economic operators is automatically recalculated according to the formula specified by the contracting authority in the award criteria or the invitation to participate in the electronic auction.

2. After the termination of the last auction round, the final ranking of economic operators is automatically determined in the NEN system. The results of the evaluation of auction values will be included in the protocol of the electronic auction conduct.

3. In case that, after the termination of the electronic auction, multiple economic operators have the same point score, the ranking of economic operators will be determined according to the procedure defined by the contracting authority in the award criteria or the invitation to participate in the electronic auction.

1. The current minimum technical requirements for operating the NEN system, including the electronic auction module, are specified on the public portal of the NEN system.

2. The encryption of auction values is automatically ensured by the NEN system via the use of the HTTPS protocol, i.e., a secure connection between the NEN System User's browser and the NEN system. The transmitted data is encrypted and not directly readable during transmission.

1. The NEN System Operator maintains an audit trail of the auction room, which will contain all electronic operations, user actions, and tool activities performed during the electronic auction.

2. The contracting authority is authorized to access the complete audit trail of the auction room.

3. The audit trail is accessible in the NEN system even after closing the auction room, in the list of conducted electronic auctions.

These rules are valid and effective as of 27 June 2024.