OLG Rostock sees breach of competition on LUCA App

Rostock and the Luca-App breaching competition laws

Learn more about this last tribunal decision: Oberlandesgericht (OLG) Rostock (Urt. v. 11.11.2021, Az. 17 Verg 4/21)

The Rostock Higher Regional Court has decided: the direct award of the Luca app by the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was contrary to the German procurement law regulations. The state is not allowed to continue the contract with the manufacturer.

The OLG had received an application from a German software company that had also submitted an offer for a contact tracking app to the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The company is of the opinion that the contract between the “Land” and the company “CC” for the procurement of the Luca app is invalid. The direct awarding of the contract was a breach of competition, which resulted in the invalidity of the contract. The OLG agreed with this opinion and rejected an application for permission to continue the contract.

According to the OLG, a Europe-wide call for tenders had not been necessary due to the urgency of procuring the contact tracking app in March 2021. Nevertheless, as much competition as possible must always be offered and it was reasonable to obtain at least several offers. Another app was basically “in competition” with the Luca app and met the minimum requirements of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In particular, the app has the necessary interface, which serves the electronic data collection by the health authorities and thus abbreviates and simplifies analogue transmissions.

The decision of the OLG is now legally binding.

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