You just learned your company is one of several winners of a multiple-award IDIQ contract. You also learned one of your competitors, which should have been ineligible, is also an awardee. So, as things stand, you’ll have to split the contract — and compete for orders — with that competitor.
Can you file a protest challenging the improper award to your competitor? Until last week, the answer was “no.” Now the answer is “maybe” — but only if you go to the Court of Federal Claims (COFC).
To pursue a protest, the protester must establish that it is an interested party, by showing that (1) it is an actual or prospective offeror; and (2) its direct economic interest would be affected by the award of, or failure to award, the contract in question. (31 U.S.C. § 3551(2)(A); 4 C.F.R. § 21.0(a)(1)) Since its decision in Recon Optical, Inc., et al., B-272239, July 17, 1996, 96-2 CPD ¶ 21, GAO has consistently held that winners of multiple-award IDIQ contracts are not interested parties for purposes of a protest, but it has typically done so while implying that, in rare circumstances, an awardee might be able to show it has an economic interest sufficient to make it an interested party.
GAO’s most recent decision, however, articulated what appears to be a categorical prohibition on awardee protests.
Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2016/05/hope-for-awardee-protesters/
