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Complaint, Objection, Complaint and Cancellation Case Process within the Scope of Law No. 4734 Art.54-57 and İYUK Art.20/A
This guide has been prepared based on the current provisions of the Public Procurement Law No. 4734, the Regulation on Applications for Tenders and the Administrative Procedure Law No. 2577, as well as the established Public Procurement Board and Council of State jurisprudence.
Summary Candidates, bidders or potential bidders participating in a public tender cannot directly file a lawsuit against transactions and actions they deem unlawful during the tender process; He/she must first complain to the administration and then, if necessary, file an objection to the Public Procurement Authority. A lawsuit filed without exhausting these administrative remedies will be rejected due to the absence of a lawsuit requirement. The periods are extremely short and degrading; Complaints regarding the tender announcement and document must be made at least three business days before the tender date, and complaints regarding other transactions must be made within ten days from learning. A lawsuit can be filed against the Board's decision only within thirty days and exclusively in Ankara Administrative Courts, subject to the urgent trial procedure.
1. Mandatory Administrative Application Method In accordance with the second paragraph of Article 54 of the Public Procurement Law No. 4734, candidates, bidders or potential bidders who claim that they have suffered a loss of rights or damage or may suffer a loss due to unlawful transactions and actions in the tender process must exhaust the complaint and objection complaint methods before applying for administrative judicial remedy. A case filed directly in the administrative court, bypassing this hierarchy, will be rejected on the grounds that the mandatory administrative remedy has not been exhausted.
2. Complaint Application to the Administration The first stage of the process is the complaint application directed to the administration that made the tender. The application period varies depending on the nature of the transaction being complained about: Complaints regarding the tender announcement or document: Must be made no later than three business days before the tender or application deadline. Complaints regarding other transactions and actions during the tender process: Must be made within ten days from the date on which the transaction became aware or should have been noticed. The administration must take a reasoned decision within ten days after receiving the complaint application and notify this to the applicant and other candidates, bidders or potential bidders. During this period, the administration; It may decide to cancel the tender, determine a corrective action that will eliminate the unlawfulness, or reject the application. If a decision is not taken in due time, the end of the ten-day period shall serve as the decision date.
3. Complaint Application to the Public Procurement Authority If the complaint application to the Administration is rejected or corrective action is taken by the administration, a complaint application to the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) can be made within ten days from the notification of this decision. If the administration does not make a decision within the period, an application must be made to the Institution within ten days from the day following the end of the ten-day response period. The law provides for a separate regulation regarding decisions regarding the cancellation of the tender: in case the administration cancels the tender upon complaint, the bidders whose bids are considered valid and who think that the tender should not be cancelled, have five days against this decision. Küheylan Law Firm — © 2026 All Rights Reserved. He/she can file a complaint directly to the Institution within 1/4. In addition, in tenders made in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of Article 21 of Law No. 4734, it is possible to apply directly to the Authority within ten days from the notification, without applying for a complaint to the administration in advance. Objection and complaint applications can also be made electronically via the Electronic Public Procurement Platform (EKAP); The application fee, which is determined according to the approximate cost, must be paid along with the application and the application capacity (candidate, bidder or potential bidder) must be present.
4. Board Review and Decision Periods The Public Procurement Authority examines objection complaint applications only on the objected transactions within the framework of the principle of equal treatment; Complaints objecting to the cancellation of the tender are evaluated only limited to the reasons for cancellation. The Board makes its final decision; For tenders made in accordance with clauses (b) and (c) of Article 21 and applications for cancellation of the tender, it shall be submitted within ten business days from the date the tender transaction file is recorded in the Institution's records, and within twenty days for other objection and complaint applications. The Board's decision is notified to the parties within five business days following the decision date and is published on the Authority's website. If the application is rejected, the deposited application fee is recorded as income.
5. A complaint or objection filed within the Postponing Effect on Signing of the Contract Period does not automatically stop the tender process; However, it has a delaying effect on the signing of the contract. If a complaint application has been made to the administration, before ten days have passed following the notification date of the decision taken or, in case a decision cannot be taken within the period, after the end of this period, and without questioning whether a complaint has been filed in objection; If a complaint has been filed as an objection, the contract cannot be signed until the final decision is made by the Institution.
6. Annulment Case Against the Decision of the Public Procurement Board, since the decisions of the Public Procurement Board are also administrative proceedings, they are subject to judicial review. Pursuant to Article 57 of Law No. 4734, an annulment lawsuit may be filed against the Board's decision in the administrative court within thirty days from the date on which the decision was notified or deemed to have been notified. Disputes arising from tender transactions (except for decisions to prohibit tenders) are subject to urgent trial procedure in accordance with Article 20/A of the Administrative Procedure Law No. 2577; This procedure has important differences from the general procedure: The period for filing a lawsuit is thirty days; The sixty-day period in the general procedure does not apply here. An application made to the administration within the scope of İYUK article 11 does not stop the thirty-day period for filing a lawsuit that has already started. Decisions regarding the request for stay of execution cannot be objected to. The appeal against the decision of the first instance court is closed; An appeal against the final decision is made directly to the Council of State within fifteen days from its notification. Since the headquarters of the Public Procurement Authority is located in Ankara, the competent court for all annulment cases to be filed against PPP decisions is the Ankara Administrative Courts, regardless of the place where the tender is held.
7. Importance of Request for Stay of Execution The tender process often reaches an irreversible point if it is waited until the case is concluded; The contract is signed, the performance begins or the work is completed. For this reason, it is of great importance to request a stay of execution together with the annulment lawsuit. As in other administrative cases, here too, the conditions are required to be met: the action is clearly against the law and if it is implemented, it will cause irreparable damage; However, since the decision on this issue cannot be objected to in the urgent trial procedure, it is also important that the request be presented with strong and concrete justifications in the first petition.
8. Case Against Decisions Prohibiting from Participating in Tenders. Decisions prohibiting people from participating in tenders given in accordance with Law No. 4734, Article 58 and Law No. 4735, Article 26. 2 / 4 are excluded from the scope of the trial procedure. A lawsuit can be filed against these decisions in the general procedure at the Ankara Administrative Court within sixty days from the notification. The ban period may vary from one to two years depending on the severity of the act; Since the bidder cannot participate in the tender of any public institution during this period, requesting a stay of execution along with the petition is of critical importance here as well.
Stage Duration Authority Complaint to the Administration (announcement/document) At latest 3 business days before the tender The administration making the tender Complaint to the Administration (other transactions) 10 days from learning The administration making the tender Objection Complaint to the PPA 10 days from the notification of the decision (5 days in case of annulment decision) Public Procurement Agency Cancellation Case Against the Decision of the PPA 30 days from the notification Ankara Administrative Court Lawsuit Against the Prohibition Decision 60 days from the notification Ankara Administrative Court Concrete Implementation Scenario Incident Summary Form The bidder who made a bid for a goods purchase tender learned that his bid was evaluated within the scope of "extremely low bid" and that his bid was rejected because the cost explanation he submitted was deemed insufficient. The bidder believes that he presented concrete documents regarding the production cost and supplier discounts in his statement, and that the decision was made without sufficient examination.
Application and Legal Process Küheylan Law Firm, which applied four days after learning of the decision, firstly filed a complaint within the time limit to the administration that made the tender; After the administration rejected the complaint, a complaint was filed to the Public Procurement Authority within ten days from the notification of the rejection decision. It has been clearly demonstrated that the cost documents submitted in the application were not properly evaluated by the administration.
Conclusion: The Public Procurement Board decided that the extremely low bid explanation should be found to be proper and sufficient, and ruled that the exclusion of the bidder's bid from evaluation should be eliminated by corrective action; The tender commission re-evaluated the offer.
9. Frequently Asked Questions Can I apply directly to the Public Procurement Authority without submitting a complaint to the Administration? As a rule, no; Complaint and objection follow a two-stage and mandatory hierarchy. The exception is the tenders made in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of Article 21, and in case the administration cancels the tender upon complaint, the bidders whose bids are considered valid can directly apply to the Authority within five days.
If I file a complaint, will the tender process stop automatically? No. Filing a complaint does not automatically stop the tender process; However, an application made within the prescribed period prevents the signing of the contract before the relevant decision becomes final or the Authority makes its final decision.
Can I re-apply to the administration before filing a lawsuit against the KCC decision? Although this is possible, it does not stop the thirty-day period for filing a lawsuit that has already begun; Since Article 11 of the IYUK is not applied in the urgent trial procedure, such an application may lead to loss of time and poses the risk of missing the deadline for filing a lawsuit.
Where should a lawsuit be filed regarding a tender made in a province other than Ankara? Regardless of the province where the tender is held, Küheylan Law Firm is authorized and authorized to file annulment cases against the decisions of the Public Procurement Board. — © 2026 All Rights Reserved. 3 / 4 courts are exclusively Ankara Administrative Courts.
Attention: Common Mistakes During the Process General Thinking that the 60-day lawsuit period is applicable: Due to the urgent trial procedure in tender cases, the time to file a lawsuit is thirty days; This duration is different from the duration in the general procedure and should not be confused. Applying to the wrong authority: Going directly to the Institution without applying to the Administration, or directly to the court without applying to the Institution, will result in the rejection of the application or case on the grounds that compulsory administrative application methods have not been exhausted. Lack of power of attorney and application fee: Lack of a current and specially authorized power of attorney or the application fee determined according to the approximate cost will result in the rejection of the application in terms of form. Confusing the application to the administration with the period for filing a lawsuit: A separate application to the administration in the urgent trial procedure does not stop the thirty-day lawsuit period that has already started. Not justifying the request for stay of execution sufficiently: Since this decision cannot be appealed, the request must be supported by strong evidence in the first petition.
Conclusion Legal battles over public tenders are subject to a strict hierarchy and extremely short, restrictive deadlines. In this process, which extends from a complaint to the administration, to a complaint against the Public Procurement Authority, and from there to the urgent trial procedure in Ankara Administrative Courts, the duration, formal conditions and application authority of each stage are different; A mistake at any stage can lead to the entire process being lost from the beginning. Küheylan Law Firm, with its knowledge of the current legislation and Board jurisprudence in the field of public procurement law, offers comprehensive legal support to its clients, from complaint application to annulment case and appeal stage.
Hunting. Mert Deniz Küheylan Important Legal Notice: The legal explanations in this guide have been prepared by Küheylan Law Firm for general information purposes and do not constitute legal advice. Since the unique circumstances of each file may change the outcome, it is recommended to seek support from a public procurement law lawyer from the beginning of the process.
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