Requirements for participants in state and municipal tenders are constantly increasing, new criteria appear that applicants must meet. To confirm their compliance with the conditions established by the organizer of the competitive procedure, companies and individual entrepreneurs often use the RPO certificate. It is issued to applicants on a paid basis by accredited bodies and comprehensively certifies their reliability as a potential business partner. For more information on the procedure and conditions for RPO certification, please see here https://bizsert.ru/sertifikat-rpo/.
What is the RPO system?
The Register of Verified Organizations is an electronic database where information is entered about companies and individual entrepreneurs who have confirmed their reliability and have the right to participate in state and municipal competitions and tenders.
Legal entities, information about which is contained in the database, meet the requirements of 44-FZ, 223-FZ, 275-FZ, 53-FZ. These are normative acts that establish the procedure for public procurement, tenders for certain types of organizations and the state defense order. The register is intended to create favorable conditions for partnership between the state and business, to ensure information transparency.
Verified companies and individual entrepreneurs are entered in a special register. For each legal entity, a resolution card is created with a unique number. It contains the following information:
- name of the legal entity;
- field of activity;
- TIN and OGRN;
- contact details for communication;
- location;
- link to the official website;
- Full name of the head;
- date of registration of the organization;
- number of staff;
- applicable system of taxation.
Other Russian and international certification systems do not provide such a comprehensive and objective assessment of legal entities as RPO. Therefore, this standard remains the most demanded among the organizers of procurement procedures.
By what criteria is the RPO certificate recipient assessed?
The issuance of certificates is carried out on a voluntary basis, based on the application of the company or individual entrepreneur. The document provides answers to 6 main questions regarding a legal entity:
- whether it submits tax returns on time;
- whether it has debts to the budget and extra-budgetary funds;
- whether the address of its registration is valid;
- whether there are signs of bankruptcy of the organization;
- whether the company is involved in fraudulent schemes;
- whether it conducts litigation with contractors.
State and municipal institutions are interested in cooperation only with reliable counterparties, therefore, they often include the RPO certificate in the list of mandatory documentation for participation in procurement procedures. Those applicants who have not passed the eligibility assessment are not allowed to participate in tenders.
The certificate does not give a guarantee of winning the tender, because the decision is made by the organizer based on a combination of factors. However, it increases the holder's chances of getting a contract.
The certificate is issued in electronic and paper form, both options have equal legal force. A paper version is provided to the applicant on an official letterhead with degrees of protection. The validity period of the document is 1 year from the date of making an entry in the Register.
How is the certification procedure going?
Certification events are built according to the following algorithm:
- The entrepreneur submits an application to the selected certification authority.
- The client agrees with the CA the terms of work (including the terms and cost) and signs the contract.
- The applicant provides a package of registration and statutory documentation, licenses or other permits (certificates, declarations), confirmation of the powers of the General Director and his passport.
- CA experts check the completeness, reliability and correctness of the received documentation, make inquiries about the applicant by sending requests to the Federal Tax Service, the Supreme Court, the Federal Bailiff Service, the Prosecutor's Office and other regulatory authorities.
- In case of a positive result of the checks, a record about the client is entered into the Register under a unique number, a paper and electronic certificate is issued.
The term of the audit is determined individually, depending on the amount of information provided.
