Reasons for Bid Rejections: 12 Causes and How to Avoid Them

Bid rejection is the cheapest way to lose a contract: work is done, documents are collected, prices are calculated, and yet you were simply not allowed to participate in the auction. Almost all reasons for rejection recur from procedure to procedure and are known in advance. Below are twelve common grounds for rejection and what to do about each before submission, not after.

1. Product Specifications Do Not Match

This is the most common reason. The participant indicates specifications “approximately” or copies them from their catalog, while the customer checks them literally against the technical assignment. Any discrepancy leads to rejection.

What to do: Fill in the specifications strictly according to the customer’s form and the catalog of goods, works, and services, if applicable. Values that cannot be changed should be transferred verbatim; where a range is specified, provide a specific value.

2. Declaration of Compliance Not Submitted

The participant is required to declare compliance with unified requirements: absence of liquidation, absence in the register of unscrupulous suppliers, absence of unexpunged convictions for the manager, and so on. On platforms, this is most often an automatic declaration, but it needs to be confirmed.

What to do: Check the composition of the application against the notification checklist before submission, rather than relying on “it’s there by itself”.

3. No License, SRO Admission, or Membership in the Register

For works requiring special permits, the absence of documentation is an unconditional ground for rejection. Moreover, the license must cover exactly the types of work specified in the procurement subject.

What to do: Maintain a register of your own permits with expiration dates and foresee in advance which procurements you cannot participate in for formal reasons.

4. National Regime Compliance Not Confirmed

Procurements where there are prohibitions and restrictions on foreign goods require confirmation of the country of origin: an extract from the register of Russian industrial products, the register of Russian software, a certificate of total cost.

What to do: Check for the necessary entry in the register in advance and keep current extracts in the document package.

5. Application Submitted by an Unauthorized Person

The signatory lacks authority: the power of attorney has expired, the machine-readable power of attorney is not executed or does not cover participation in procurements, the certificate was issued to a former manager.

What to do: Keep signatures and powers of attorney in order; details can be found in the article on electronic signatures for auctions.

6. Bid Security Not Provided

There were insufficient funds in the special account, the bank did not manage to process the payment, or the independent guarantee does not meet the notification requirements.

What to do: Replenish the special account a few days before submission and verify the text of the guarantee against the contract draft. More details can be found in the article on bid and contract security.

7. EIS Registration Expired

The participant’s registration is valid for three years, and you cannot submit a bid when less than three months remain until its expiration. Formally, you are accredited; in reality, you are blocked.

What to do: Set a reminder six months in advance. The procedure is described in the article on registration in the ERUZ and accreditation on the ETP.

8. Document Composition or Format Violated

Incorrect file format, unreadable scan, missing mandatory form, documents uploaded to the wrong section of the application.

What to do: Assemble the package according to the documentation checklist and check the readability of each file after uploading.

9. Proposal Does Not Meet Execution Conditions

Delivery time exceeds the required, warranty period is shorter, volume is less — all of this is non-compliance with conditions, not “details for negotiation”.

What to do: Check the contract draft before submission: it is the contract, not the notification, that defines what you are obliged to do.

10. Participant in the Register of Unscrupulous Suppliers

If the customer has set such a requirement, the presence of the company or its founders in the RNP (Register of Unscrupulous Suppliers) is an unconditional rejection. Information remains in the register for two years.

What to do: Check yourself and affiliated persons before submission; if you end up in the register — plan to participate in procurements where such a requirement is not established.

11. Errors in Price Proposal

Price is higher than the initial, VAT is not indicated or is indicated contradictorily, calculations do not match the estimate, not all positions of the specification are proposed.

What to do: Calculate the price in a separate file and transfer it to the form once, with a second person verifying it.

12. Late Submission

The application was sent after the submission deadline — the platform simply will not accept it. A classic case: signing in the last hour, a dropped plugin, a frozen token, a queue on the platform before closing.

What to do: Submit at least a day in advance. Technical failures on the deadline day are the rule, not the exception.

Systematic Solutions

• Checklist for each type of procedure — create it once and use it thereafter.
• Documentation review before deciding to participate: requirements for the participant, for the product, for the timeline, for security.
• Double-checking the application by a second employee before submission.
• Accounting for rejection reasons: if the same mistake recurs, it is not bad luck, but a process defect.
• Time buffer — at least a day before the submission deadline.

Atlas Procurement analyzes the documentation for each procedure and shows the requirements for the participant and the application before you start assembling the package, and reminders about deadlines come in advance — so that submission does not fall in the last hour. Check your procurements →

The grounds for rejection are provided according to the current version of the law on the contract system. Always refer to the notification and documentation for the specific procurement requirements.