Minolta Corporation--Costs, B-285010.2, September 26, 2000

B-285010.2 Sep 26, 2000 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Which was clearly meritorious. To Ricoh Corporation for certain copier services. /1/ The delivery order was issued pursuant to Ricoh's General Services Administration (GSA) federal supply schedule (FSS) contract No. The matter at issue is under a follow-on to a contract awarded by FBA-West to Minolta in 1995. The agency concluded that "Ricoh was the only contractor to comply with all of the Terms & Conditions. Minolta was notified of the award on November 4 and. That the delivery order issued to Ricoh included services and supplies that were not on Ricoh's supply schedule contract. New machine requirement) are less than that permitted under the GSA schedule. The contracting officer specifically represented that "[a]ll of the items procured under the delivery order are on the GSA Schedule.". View Decision Matter of: Minolta Corporation--Costs File: B-285010.2 Date: September 26, 2000 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Minolta Corporation requests that we recommend that it be reimbursed the costs of filing and pursuing its protest challenging the issuance of delivery order No. FBA-00-0001 by the Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Public Debt's Franchise Business Activity-West (FBA-West), to Ricoh Corporation for certain copier services. /1/ The delivery order was issued pursuant to Ricoh's General Services Administration (GSA) federal supply schedule (FSS) contract No. GS-26F-1015B. We recommend that the Department of the Treasury reimburse Minolta its protest costs. The matter at issue is under a follow-on to a contract awarded by FBA-West to Minolta in 1995, under which Minolta provided copier services to various federal agencies in the southern California vicinity. Seeking to expand the prior area of performance to cover the entire country, the agency decided that, "[i]n the interest of time and effort," this procurement would be negotiated using the GSA schedule instead of "a formal acquisition." Agency Report, Tab 13, Narration of Acquisition, at 1. To this end, in June 1999, the agency contacted several potential offerors who held GSA schedule contracts for copier services, provided them with Minolta's prior contract for use as a "model," and advised them that they must propose rates for various identified services, propose both digital and color copiers, and propose performance nationwide. Agency Report, Tab 13, Narration of Acquisition, at 1-3; Tab 2, Memorandum for the Record, Sept. 21, 1999. Four offerors, including Minolta, submitted initial proposals. The agency conducted discussions with Minolta and obtained proposal revisions from it. Based on its evaluation of the proposals, the agency concluded that "Ricoh was the only contractor to comply with all of the Terms & Conditions, technical and configuration requirements." Agency Report, Tab 13, Narration of Acquisition, at 6. Accordingly, the agency issued delivery order FBA-00-0001 to Ricoh on October 28. Minolta was notified of the award on November 4 and, by letter dated November 17, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, seeking specified information related to the procurement. The agency provided the requested information to Minolta on March 16, 2000, and Minolta filed its initial protest with our Office on March 24. In its protest Minolta asserted, among other things, that the delivery order issued to Ricoh included services and supplies that were not on Ricoh's supply schedule contract. Protest at 2, 10. Minolta specifically identified Ricoh's proposal reference to "open market items," and further specifically objected that, "where the offered services (e.g., the minimum copy volumes, Monthly Effectiveness Level, new machine requirement) are less than that permitted under the GSA schedule, the agency has effectively procured services not included on the GSA schedule." Protest at 10. In the April 26 agency report, the contracting officer generally denied Minolta's allegations and requested that the protest be dismissed or denied. The contracting officer specifically represented that "[a]ll of the items procured under the delivery order are on the GSA Schedule." Contracting Officer's Statement at 10. After submission of Minolta's May 5 comments on the report, by letter dated May 31, the agency advised our Office that it was taking corrective action in response to the protest. Specifically the agency stated: "In light of information gained in conversations between the Bureau of the Public Debt, FBA-West, and GSA, it was determined that delivery order FBA-00-0001 against Ricoh Corporation's GSA Schedule GS-26F-1015B is out of scope for cost-per-copy (CPC) and flat-rate-monthly fee (FRMF) services." Letter from Department of Treasury to GAO 1 (May 31, 2000).