The contracting authority has rejected your objections in the procurement procedure.

What happens after objections are rejected: ten days that decide

The contracting authority must send the decision on objections to the complainant within 15 days of their delivery (Section 245 of the Act on Public Procurement under Czech legislation). The law also considers it a rejection if the contracting authority only partially complies with the objections or chooses a different remedy than the complainant requested. The decision on rejection must instruct the complainant that they may submit a petition to the Office within the statutory deadline and that a copy of the petition must also be delivered to the contracting authority (Section 245(4)).

The ten-day period runs from the day the complainant received the decision. Within 10 days, the petition must reach the Office and its copy must reach the contracting authority (Section 251(2)). Therefore, the decisive day is when the Office receives the petition, not the day it was sent. At the same time, the contracting authority must also receive the copy within the same period. A company that sends the petition only on the last day risks it arriving late.

If the contracting authority does not decide on the objections within the deadline, the law treats this silence as a rejection for the purposes of the petition. The petition must then be received by the Office and the contracting authority no later than 25 days from the day the complainant sent the objections (Section 245(5) and Section 251(3)). Thus, the silence of the contracting authority does not extend the deadline for the petition. The complainant cannot wait for a decision that will not come and must act based on their own sending date.

The general procedure for submitting and handling objections is discussed in the text on objection proceedings in procurement procedures. This article follows up on it and addresses what to do when the contracting authority has rejected the objections and the complainant wants to proceed with the Office. The decision on the next steps must be made in a matter of days, not weeks, and company management should be involved from the very beginning.

When the contracting authority must not conclude a contract

After the rejection of timely submitted objections, the contracting authority must not conclude the contract until the deadline for submitting the petition has expired. If the complainant submits the petition on time, the ban applies for another 60 days from the date of initiation of the proceedings for the review of the contracting authority's actions (Section 246 of the Act). During this period, the contracting authority may only conclude the contract if the Office has rejected the petition or terminated the proceedings and the decision has become final.

The 60-day ban only arises if the complainant submits the petition on time. If the petition is late, the ban does not arise at all after the initiation of the proceedings. Defects in the petition do not cancel the protection immediately, but they can significantly shorten it. If the Office terminates the proceedings, for example, due to an incorrect security deposit, the contracting authority may conclude the contract as soon as the decision on termination becomes final, even if the 60 days have not yet expired. An error in the petition thus means not only a lost dispute but also an open path to signing the contract with a competitor.

After the contract is concluded, a review that would lead to the cancellation of the contracting authority's previous actions is generally out of the question. The law then only allows a petition to impose a ban on the performance of the contract, even without prior objections (Section 250(2)). However, it can only be submitted for reasons listed in Section 254(1), typically when the contracting authority concluded the contract despite a statutory ban or without the mandatory publication. The security deposit in this case is CZK 200,000. The deadline is governed by the statutory reason and the published notice of the conclusion of the contract (Section 254(3) and (4)), but no later than six months from the conclusion of the contract.

A practical rule follows from this. As long as the deadline for the petition is running, the complainant has time. Once it expires and the contracting authority lawfully concludes the contract, not even a petition for a ban on performance will remain, as it lacks a statutory ground. Management must therefore quickly decide whether to proceed, calculate the security deposit in the very first days, and start preparing the documents for the petition.

What the petition must contain and what can no longer be supplemented

In addition to the general requirements for a submission, the petition must state the contracting authority, what the petitioner sees as a violation of the law, and what harm it has caused or threatens to cause them. It also contains proposals for evidence and what the petitioner is seeking (Section 251(1)). Proof of payment of the security deposit is attached, and before the conclusion of the contract, also proof of delivery of the objections to the contracting authority. The petitioner attaches written evidence that is not part of the procurement documentation in electronic form.

The requirements of the petition cannot be retroactively changed or supplemented. The Office will not take changes into account, with the exception of removing defects within a deadline set by the Office itself (Section 251(4)). The Office will take into account new facts that the petitioner did not state in the objections only if the petitioner could not have asserted them against the contracting authority earlier. The petitioner must prove this. Well-written objections are therefore the foundation of the entire subsequent proceedings.

The petitioner and other participants may propose evidence and state facts no later than 15 days from the delivery of the notice of initiation of the proceedings. As a rule, the Office does not take into account facts stated later (Section 251(5)). Therefore, the proceedings before the Office do not provide space for gradual supplementation. The company must have its documents and arguments ready immediately and cannot rely on supplementing them later.

As a rule, the contracting authority must receive objections against the tender specifications no later than the end of the deadline for the submission of bids (Section 242(4)). However, the contracting authority may stipulate in the tender documentation that they can be submitted no later than 72 hours before its end (Section 242(5)), which is why it is always necessary to read the specific documentation. When the tender documentation can be challenged is described in the text on until when it is possible to dispute tender documentation. For older interpretations, it is necessary to verify compliance with the current wording of the law.

Security deposit: how much, when, and in what amount

Within the deadline for delivering the petition, the petitioner must deposit a security deposit of 1% of their bid price into the account of the Office (Section 255(1)). The price for the entire duration of the public contract is calculated, and in the case of open-ended contracts, for the first four years. The security deposit is at least CZK 50,000 and at most CZK 10,000,000. If the petitioner cannot determine the total bid price, they shall deposit a security deposit of CZK 100,000.

The security deposit may be forfeited to the state. This happens when the Office definitively rejects the petition under Section 265(a), i.e., as groundless. The same applies to a petitioner who withdraws the petition only after the Office has rejected it in a non-final decision (Section 255(3)). If the petitioner withdraws the petition before a decision on the merits is made, 35% of the security deposit, at least CZK 30,000, goes to the state, and the rest is returned (Section 255(4)). In other cases, the Office returns the security deposit within one month from the date the decision becomes final (Section 255(6)).

For company management, this implies a budgetary consideration. The security deposit is not returned automatically: the outcome of the proceedings and the moment when the petitioner potentially withdraws the petition are decisive. With a bid price of CZK 100 million, the security deposit is CZK 1 million. This amount must be in the Office's account no later than the last day of the deadline. Therefore, the company must address the financing before deciding to submit the petition, not after.

The law also addresses other situations. If the Office reviews the procedure for awarding a concession, the security deposit is 1% of the estimated value of the concession, again at least CZK 50,000 and at most CZK 10,000,000 (Section 255(2)). For a petition to impose a ban on the performance of a contract, the security deposit is a fixed CZK 200,000, both for a public contract and a concession. Therefore, the petitioner calculates the security deposit according to which action of the contracting authority they are challenging.

A judgment showing the cost of an error in the security deposit amount

By its judgment of March 12, 2026, Case No. 31 Af 27/2024, the Regional Court in Brno dismissed a lawsuit of a supplier whose petition had been terminated by the Office. The supplier deposited a flat-rate security deposit of CZK 100,000, although they could have calculated it from the bid price. They submitted a bid for two parts of the contract and challenged both. According to the Office's calculation, the correct security deposit was therefore CZK 421,070, and the supplier could no longer pay the difference.

The flat-rate security deposit of CZK 100,000 is an exception, not a choice. The court confirmed that the supplier knows the estimated scope of performance from the tender documentation as well as their unit prices. Therefore, they can determine the total bid price, even if the actual scope of performance ultimately differs. The flat rate applies only to cases where the scope of performance does not follow from the documentation at all. Thus, the Office multiplied the unit prices by the estimated scope and calculated one percent of the total.

The court also confirmed that an incorrect security deposit amount is a defect in the petition that cannot be remedied. The Office did not have to invite the supplier to supplement it and could terminate the proceedings straight away. Unlike letter a), Section 257(c) does not envisage an invitation to remedy defects. The court did not consider the strictness of the regulation to be unconstitutional. It added that if the supplier had doubts, they could have deposited the highest considered amount, as the overpayment is returned.

Three practical conclusions follow from the judgment. First, calculate the security deposit from the bid price, not from the flat rate. Second, in case of doubt, it is better to deposit a higher amount. Third, a dispute over the security deposit amount cannot be resolved during the proceedings, because the deadline for the petition is also the deadline for depositing the security deposit. The judgment of the regional court is final upon delivery (Section 54(7) of the Code of Administrative Justice), but it can be challenged by a cassation complaint. Before a company relies on it, it is necessary to verify whether the Supreme Administrative Court has not changed it.

How to calculate the security deposit in practice

The calculation has four steps. The first is to determine what kind of proceedings are involved: a public contract, a concession, or a ban on contract performance, as each has a different regime. The second is to find out whether the supplier submitted a bid or a preliminary bid. The law also considers the price from a preliminary bid as the bid price (Section 255(1)). The flat rate comes into consideration only when the total bid price cannot be objectively determined. The third step is to find out the scope of performance in the tender documentation, including a model example and the estimated number of units.

The fourth step is to multiply the unit prices by the scope of performance and take one percent. The result is compared with the limits of CZK 50,000 and CZK 10,000,000. If the petitioner challenges multiple parts of the contract, they add up their bid prices, as shown by the judgment, and deposit the security deposit in a single amount. For open-ended contracts, they calculate with the first four years of performance. It is advisable to save the calculation with the petition so that it can be documented later.

Example: the supplier offered CZK 12 million for a four-year performance. The security deposit is CZK 120,000, i.e., one percent of the bid price. For a bid of CZK 3 million, one percent would be CZK 30,000, but the statutory minimum applies. For a bid of CZK 2 billion, one percent would be CZK 20 million, but the statutory cap applies. The amounts must always be verified according to the current wording of the law.

The security deposit should be calculated independently by two people and the result justified in writing. Depositing a higher amount out of caution does not matter, as the overpayment is returned. However, a lower amount can no longer be corrected. Therefore, send the payment several days in advance so that the money arrives in the Office's account no later than the last day of the deadline. Then attach the proof of payment to the petition.

Six steps after rejection of objections

The first step is to find out when you received the decision on objections and calculate the end of the ten-day period. The second step is to assess whether it makes sense to proceed: how strong the arguments are, what harm threatens, and how much the security deposit costs. The third step is to calculate the security deposit and secure the funds for its payment. These three steps should be completed within the first two to three days of the period.

The fourth step is to prepare the petition and evidence. The petition must follow up on the objections, as the Office will take new facts into account only exceptionally. Evidence is already attached to the petition (Section 251(1) and (4)). The fifth step is to deliver the petition to the Office and the copy to the contracting authority within the deadline, in a manner that proves delivery. The sixth step is to monitor the 60-day period during which the contracting authority must not conclude the contract.

It has proven successful when one person manages the entire process from receiving the decision to submitting the petition and monitors the deadlines. Within ten days, there is no time to find out who is in charge of what. The lawyers of the Prague-based ARROWS law firm therefore recommend having a petition template and a security deposit calculation procedure prepared in advance. How to review tender specifications for information technology contracts is discussed in the text on review of tender specifications for ICT contracts.

Four errors that cost the proceedings

The first error is calculating the deadline from a different date. A company might think that the ten days run from the moment the contracting authority sent the decision. However, the decisive day is when the complainant received it. If the petition reaches the Office or the copy reaches the contracting authority late, the Office will terminate the proceedings (Section 257(e)). The prevention is to record the day of delivery of the decision and plan the delivery of the petition to the Office with a buffer.

The second error is choosing a flat-rate security deposit out of convenience. The supplier deposits CZK 100,000 because they do not want to calculate, and the proceedings are terminated, as shown by the judgment. The prevention is to calculate 1% of the bid price and, in case of doubt, deposit a higher amount. The difference between the flat rate and the correct security deposit can be several-fold, as shown by the case with a security deposit of over CZK 400,000.

The third error is depositing the security deposit only on the last day and without verification. The payment may be delayed, and the proof of its payment must be part of the petition. The fourth error is submitting a petition that differs from the objections. The Office will take new facts into account only if the petitioner could not have asserted them earlier. The lawyers of the Prague-based ARROWS law firm therefore start by checking the objections and calculating the security deposit, and only then write the petition.

Risks when submitting a petition to the ÚOHS

Final summary

After the rejection of objections, the complainant has ten days to deliver the petition to the Office and must deposit a security deposit within the same period. The article showed that the security deposit is 1% of the bid price, ranging from CZK 50,000 to CZK 10 million. An incorrect amount leads to the termination of the proceedings, and the contracting authority must not conclude the contract while the deadline for the petition is running, and for another 60 days after the initiation of the proceedings.

For management, this implies a clear procedure: first calculate the deadline and the security deposit, then decide whether to proceed, and only then process and deliver the petition. If a company proceeds in reverse, it will find an error in the security deposit or deadline only after the proceedings have been terminated. At that point, nothing can be corrected, and the contracting authority can sign the contract with a competitor.

The lawyers of the Prague-based ARROWS law firm represent both suppliers and contracting authorities in proceedings for the review of contracting authorities' actions. They calculate security deposits, prepare petitions, and monitor deadlines. Write to us at consultation@arws.cz or explore our service for public procurement.