Miguel A. Lopes / Lusa
Accident in the Glory Elevator, Lisbon
The 2022 public tender jury did not fulfill the usual procedure to request clarification when the company’s proposal is far below the base price.
The public tender launched in 2022 by Carris for the maintenance of Lisbon’s lifts, including the Glory Elevator, is under scrutiny due to potential conflicts of interest and procedural failures.
According to the Jury President responsible for the award of the public tender, Filipe Fraga, the maintenance direction, is the same employee who, at different times, managed maintenance contracts attributed to MNTC – Engineering Technical Services in 2019, 2022 and 2025.
At the time, the jury chaired by Fraga considered that there was no irregularities in the amount proposed by the MNTC, although it corresponds to Only half the base price fixed by Carris. The main contract, which covered the elevators of Gloria, Bica, Lavra and Santa Justa, was launched with a reference price of 1.584 million euros. The MNTC presented a proposal of 851 thousand euros, 53.8% lower than the value defined by the public carrier.
Liftech, a competitor classified in second place, contested the result, claiming that the MNTC proposal should have been the target of clarification requestsas stipulated by article 71 of the Code of Public Contracts. This standard requires the jury to demand explanations when prices are considered abnormally low. However, this procedure was not followed.
The composition of the jury, which included only Carris employees, raises questions about the independence of the evaluation. Confronted with these criticisms, the Carris did not clarify The reasons for the absence of requests for clarification to the MNTC, nor about the choice of jury members.
Carris President Pedro Bogas recently defended at a meeting of the Lisbon Chamber that the current wording of article 71 was not in force in 2022. The municipal opposition contradicted it, ensuring that the applicable legal text was already in full force.
The tragic derailment of the glory elevator caused 16 dead and 22 injured From various nationalities, due to the breakup of the cable that united the two carriages. The Public Prosecution Service opened an inquiry to investigate responsibilities, with the Judiciary Police involved in the investigation.
