SM, MPIC-Ayala groups, 3 others get OK to bid for auto fare project

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications on Wednesday announced that five consortia have been qualified to bid for the P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System project.

The DOTC said it has shortlisted AF Consortium, led by the Metro Pacific and Ayala groups;  Comworks Consortium, which includes Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp.; E-Trans Solutions Joint Venture Inc. Consortium, which includes Eastwest Banking Corp.; Megawide-Suyen-Eurolink Consortium, which will tap the experience of Singapore’s EZ-Link Pte. Ltd.; and  SM Consortium, led by several companies of the Sy family.

"We are pleased to announce that five interested groups have prequalified to bid for the AFCS Project, one of our first PPP (Public-Private Partnership) offerings," the DOTC said.

It added that the prequalified consortia will have until August 30, 2013 to prepare their bids for the project. 

"We set this deadline for bid submission to give bidders the maximum amount of time to come up with their best proposals for government without compromising our schedule.  As long as we have the full support and cooperation of the bidders, we will remain on track with our targets," the DOTC said.

Meanwhile, the four disqualified groups are Lamco Consortium, Mega Lucky United Consortium, MTD-PRLM Consortium, and the San Miguel Transport Solutions Consortium.

In the case of Lamco, it nominated consortium member New San Jose Builders Inc. to meet the project’s financial qualification requirement.

However, the documents provided during the submission deadline last April 12 showed that its net worth fell below the P1 billion minimum. 

Additional documents submitted by Lamco after the deadline were not considered by the DOTC-Light Rail Transit Authority Bids and Awards Committee, since this would have amounted to a bid modification.

For Mega Lucky, there was no proof that its members have no unsatisfactory record.  The required basic information and general information sheets of its members were also absent.

Meanwhile, MTD-PRLM’s submission lacked proof establishing the required experience of its nominated AFCS operator, with its Project Implementation Plan and Project Development Plan failed to show its ability to undertake the project due to missing components.

San Miguel Transport Solutions' PIPPDP did not include certain required components, similar to MTD-PRLM.

According to the Public-Private Partnership Center, the "project involves the old-magnetic-based ticketing system and replacing the same with contactless-based smart card technology on LRT Line 1 and 2 and MRT Line 3, with the introduction of a centralized back office that will perform apportionment of revenues." The winning bidder will operate and maintain the fare collection system.