PRACTICE AREA 02

Complaints and Applications for Review in Public Procurement Procedures

A tender notice, procurement documents, qualification or bid evaluation, or the outcome of a public procurement procedure may cause a company to suffer a loss of rights.

A tender notice, procurement documents, qualification or bid evaluation, or the outcome of a public procurement procedure may cause a company to suffer an actual or potential loss of rights. A complaint is a specific administrative application submitted to the contracting authority, whereas an application for review is submitted to the Public Procurement Authority. In disputes falling within the jurisdiction of the Authority, these administrative remedies must be exhausted before judicial proceedings may be initiated.

This application mechanism covers the period from the approval of the procurement procedure until the signing of the contract. Disputes arising during the performance of the contract, including those concerning progress payments, extensions of time, termination or receivables, are subject to different legal remedies.

1. Who May Submit an Application and Against Which Acts?

Persons claiming that they have suffered, or are likely to suffer, a loss of rights or damage as a result of an unlawful act may submit an application according to their status in the procurement procedure:

Potential tenderers: Unlawful provisions or practices concerning the tender notice, pre-qualification documents or procurement documents;
Candidates: The submission, evaluation and outcome of pre-qualification applications;
Tenderers: The submission and evaluation of bids and the outcome of the procurement procedure.

To challenge a tender notice or procurement document, the relevant documents must be downloaded by logging into an EKAP account, and the applicant must demonstrate that it operates in the business sector relevant to the subject matter of the procurement.

Depending on the circumstances of the case, restrictive conditions affecting competition, contradictory provisions in the procurement documents, exclusion of a qualification application or bid, explanations concerning abnormally low bids, scoring and breaches of the principle of equal treatment may be challenged.

Mere dissatisfaction with the outcome is insufficient. The challenged act or provision, the grounds of unlawfulness and the supporting evidence must be clearly identified.

2. Time Limits for Applications

The applicable time limit begins on the day following the date on which the relevant act was, or should reasonably have been, discovered:

Five days for tenders conducted under Article 21(b) or 21(c) of Public Procurement Law No. 4734, and ten days in other cases;
For complaints concerning a tender notice or procurement documents, the application must also be submitted before filing a bid or application and no later than three business days before the tender date or the deadline for applications;
Ten days to apply to the Public Procurement Authority against the contracting authority’s decision or its failure to respond within the ten-day decision period;
Five days to apply directly to the Public Procurement Authority against a tender cancellation decision taken following a complaint or an application for review.

Public holidays are included when calculating time limits. If the final day falls on a public holiday, the time limit expires at the end of the first subsequent business day.

The date of the initial publication is relevant for tender notices; the date on which the documents are downloaded by logging into the EKAP account is relevant for procurement documents; and the notification date is relevant for addenda.

A second complaint concerning the same matter does not restart the applicable time limit. The date on which each allegation was discovered and the relevant notification date should be recorded separately.

3. Complaints to the Contracting Authority and Applications for Review to the Public Procurement Authority

As a general rule, the initial complaint must be submitted to the contracting authority conducting the procurement procedure. The contracting authority must issue a reasoned decision within ten days and notify the decision within three days following the date on which it was issued.

If the contracting authority’s decision is considered unsatisfactory, an application for review may be submitted to the Public Procurement Authority within ten days beginning on the day following notification of the decision. If the contracting authority fails to respond, the ten-day application period begins on the day following the expiry of the authority’s ten-day decision period. Waiting indefinitely for the contracting authority’s response may therefore result in a loss of rights.

For current procurement procedures, both types of application must be submitted through EKAP using an electronic signature. Merely saving the petition in the system is insufficient. The electronic-signature and submission processes must be completed, and the submission receipt must be retained.

An electronic complaint is delivered to the contracting authority’s EKAP inbox only between 09:00 and 18:00 on business days and between 09:00 and 13:00 on half-working days. If an electronic application for review is signed outside these hours, it is deemed to have been submitted on the following business day. Applications should therefore not be left until the final day.

Where an application is submitted directly to the Public Procurement Authority without first applying to the contracting authority, or before the contracting authority’s decision period has expired, the file may be forwarded to the contracting authority, and the date on which it is registered by the contracting authority will be taken into account.

Submitting an application to the wrong authority or failing to follow the prescribed order does not preserve the applicable time limit. The exception allowing a direct application within five days against a cancellation decision taken following a complaint must be assessed separately.

4. Petition, Allegations and Evidence

The petition must contain:

The applicant’s details and, where applicable, the details of its representative;
The contracting authority’s details, the name of the procurement and the tender registration number;
The date on which the contested act was discovered or notified; and
The subject matter of each allegation, its factual and legal grounds, and the supporting evidence.

An application for review must additionally include the date of the complaint submitted to the contracting authority, the initial complaint petition, the contracting authority’s decision, if any, and the date of notification of that decision.

Authority to represent, joint-signature requirements, electronic signatures and records relating to the application fee must be verified at the outset. The authorities are not required to notify the applicant of deficiencies, and any deficiency may only be remedied before the expiry of the original application period.

Since 9 April 2026, each criterion or provision in a tender notice or procurement document is, as a rule, treated as a separate matter. At the bid-evaluation stage, each distinct matter concerning an individual candidate or tenderer is treated as a separate allegation.

Multiple legal grounds concerning the same matter may be explained under a single allegation. The Public Procurement Authority separates allegations relating to different matters and consolidates repeated allegations. The number of allegations affects the proportion of the application fee that may be refunded if the applicant is found to be justified.

It should not be assumed that a new matter not raised in the initial complaint may subsequently be introduced at the application-for-review stage.

5. Application Fee and Refund

A complaint submitted to the contracting authority is free of charge. An application for review submitted to the Public Procurement Authority is subject to a fee determined according to the estimated-cost bracket applicable to the procurement.

As the amount changes annually, the current fee and payment method should be verified through EKAP or the Public Procurement Authority’s system using the relevant tender registration number.

Subject to the statutory exceptions, the portion of the application fee corresponding to the ratio of allegations upheld by the Public Procurement Board to the total number of allegations may be refunded.

The refund is not made automatically. A written request must be submitted to the Authority within 30 days following notification of the decision. Payment is made within 15 days following receipt of the request.

6. Decisions, Contract and Judicial Remedies

The contracting authority or the Public Procurement Board may decide:

To cancel the procurement procedure;
To order corrective action; or
To reject the application.

As a general rule, the Public Procurement Authority must issue its decision within 20 days following the registration of the necessary information and the procurement file.

For tenders conducted under Article 21(b) or 21(c), and for cancellation decisions taken following a complaint or application for review, the decision period is ten business days.

A Public Procurement Board decision that alters the legal position must be implemented by the contracting authority without delay.

While the complaint procedure remains pending, the contract may not be signed until the statutory standstill periods and verification requirements have been completed.

Final decisions of the Public Procurement Authority may be challenged before the courts of the Republic of Türkiye, and such cases are heard as a matter of priority. A request submitted to the Authority for reconsideration does not affect the time limit for initiating judicial proceedings.

The date of notification, the competent court and any specific time limit for bringing proceedings must therefore be verified without delay.

7. Legal Assistance and Documents Required for Preliminary Review

The short statutory time limits, legal standing requirements, identification of the correct authority, formulation of allegations, technical and financial evidence, authority to represent, electronic-signature requirements and application fees payable to the Public Procurement Authority make legal assistance particularly important.

Obtaining legal assistance as soon as the alleged unlawfulness is discovered reduces the risk of dismissal without an examination of the merits and the risk of missing an applicable time limit.

The following documents and information should be provided for a preliminary legal review, insofar as they are relevant to the contemplated application:

Tender registration number;
Procurement procedure and relevant dates;
Tender notice, specifications and addenda;
Bid and qualification documents;
Finalised tender decision or grounds for exclusion;
Dates and times of EKAP notifications;
Complaint petition, if any;
The contracting authority’s response;
Submission records; and
Documents establishing authority to represent.

A preliminary legal review will identify the legal grounds on which an application may be submitted and may prevent unnecessary financial loss or loss of rights resulting from missed time limits.

8. Frequently Asked Questions

What should be done if the contracting authority does not respond?

Once the ten-day decision period expires, the ten-day period for applying to the Public Procurement Authority begins on the following day.

Is an email or a hard-copy petition sufficient?

Applications concerning public procurement procedures must be electronically signed in EKAP and submitted through EKAP.

Can the procurement documents be challenged after a bid has been submitted?

No. A complaint concerning the procurement documents must be submitted before filing a bid or application.

How can I avoid losing the high application fee payable to the Public Procurement Authority?

Where the allegations submitted to the Public Procurement Authority are upheld, the relevant portion of the application fee may be refunded. The applicant must therefore have legally substantiated grounds for its allegations. Obtaining legal assistance may help ensure that only allegations with a sound factual and legal basis are submitted to the Authority.

9. Related Content and Contact Information

Legal Assistance in Public Procurement Procedures • Decisions of the Public Procurement Board • Court Decisions • Frequently Asked Questions • Glossary of Public Procurement Terms

For a preliminary assessment, Kılıç Law may be contacted by providing the tender registration number, the contracting authority, the contested act, the date on which the act was discovered or notified, and the final date for submitting an application.

Contact: İletisim

Disclaimer

This text provides general and guidance-oriented information only. It does not constitute a legal opinion or a commitment regarding any particular outcome.

Legal standing, applicable time limits, the competent authority, allegations, evidence and judicial remedies must be assessed separately in each case in accordance with the legislation in force on the date of the application.

Legislation last reviewed: 13 September 2026.