ESOP, the Association of Portuguese Companies for open source software, has filed a complaint at the national competition authority as well as the European Commission "regarding serious irregularities in the access to a major e-Procurement platform", the group says in a statement published on Tuesday.
According to the association, one of Portugal's major web sites for publishing public procurement documents, Vortalgov, prevents companies that are not using Microsoft-Based technology from submitting a bid for a public tender. "Only users with Microsoft browsers and operating systems can gain access to this site", the group alleges. "This is contrary to best practises for web development."
In their statement, ESOP explains that it has tried in vain to contact the developers at Vortal, the company which developed and now maintains the procurement web site. When the requests remained unanswered, the open source business association decided to file an official complaint.
According to ESOP, use of electronic procurement platforms is mandatory in Portugal. The artificial constraints placed by Vortal are hampering competition. "This is a serious matter", says ESOP. The group worries that this situation might harm its members and their customers. ESOP adds that its members might consider requesting compensation for having lost potential clients.
Meeting rooms
Miquel Sobral, head of marketing at Vortal, admits there are problems with the website for users of the Safari or Mozilla-based web browsers. However, he says: "Vortal has PCs and meeting rooms ready to be used by any company or entity that has difficulty using their platforms. We are fully committed and will address all the issues." Sobral promises the site will be usable with any browser and operating system soon.
More information:
ESOP (Associação de Empresas de Software Open Source Portuguesas)