The Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) has ruled against the city administration in a lawsuit related to the procurement of the long-awaited electronic road pricing (ERP) system by ordering it to resume the ongoing tender process.

Governor Anies Baswedan halted the tender process in August last year because of alleged maladministration and he planned to start the process from square one.

This prompted a telecommunications infrastructure company, PT Bali Towerindo Sentra, which participated in the pre-bidding process, to file a lawsuit with the PTUN against the city administration in September last year, demanding the city revoke the cancellation.

The PTUN ruled in favor of the company on Tuesday.

“[The court] grants the plaintiff’s request for the administration, revoking a letter announcing the cancellation of the bidding process for the electronic road pricing system,” presiding judge M. Arif Pratomo said in the ruling, as published on the court’s website.

The bench also restricted the Jakarta administration from calling for new tenders rather than resuming the ongoing process.

"The defendant is prohibited from taking any actions […] that could cause loss for the plaintiff, such as reopening tenders for the electronic road pricing system," according to the ruling.

Read also: Despite numerous delays, ERP still feasible: Expert

Jakarta Legal Bureau head Yayan Yuhana refused to comment on the ruling. "I haven't read the verdict. I haven't updated [my information]," she said, as quoted by kompas.com.

The ERP system was first proposed to the administration in May 2005 to overcome acute traffic problems in the capital. Then-governor Sutiyoso said in 2007 the system would be a suitable replacement for the three-in-one car-sharing practice, which was deemed ineffective for easing congestion.

The system, however, had experienced several setbacks over the decade because of multiple changes to provincial leadership.

Governor Anies consulted with the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), asking for a legal opinion on alleged maladministration during the tender process. The AGO recommended the city administration cancel the bidding on the grounds that the “mechanism in the tender process is not in accord with requirements”.

Two firms that received prequalification as potential vendors, Norwegian Q-Free and Swedish KapschTrafficCom, withdrew from the tendering, leaving one Indonesian company, PT Bali Towerindo Sentra, the only remaining potential vendor. The foreign firms supplied ERP technology during a trial in 2014.

At the time, Q-Free said in a statement that its decision to withdraw "is a consequence of the continued uncertainty regarding the tendering timeline, project structure and financing and project profitability". (nal)