The Commerce Commission is putting companies involved in bid rigging and cartel behaviour on notice, estimating collusion in public procurement could be costing New Zealand taxpayers around $360 million every year.
The warning comes as the competition regulator steps up its focus on cartel conduct involving taxpayer-funded services and infrastructure contracts. Public procurement has been made a specific enforcement and compliance priority for 2026/27.
Bid rigging occurs when competing businesses secretly coordinate tenders — including agreeing who will win, deliberately submitting non-competitive bids or coordinating prices. The Commerce Commission says this undermines genuine competition and can leave taxpayers paying more while receiving poorer value.
The regulator has already demonstrated it is prepared to prosecute. New Zealand’s first criminal cartel prosecution resulted in construction company MaxBuild being fined $500,000, while company director Munesh Kumar received six months’ community detention and 200 hours of community work over bid rigging connected with publicly funded Auckland infrastructure projects.
The Commission says further criminal investigations into cartel conduct involving publicly funded work are also underway, making public procurement one of its major enforcement targets.
The stakes for businesses are significant. Cartel conduct is a criminal offence, and individuals convicted of criminal cartel conduct can face up to seven years in prison.
With billions of taxpayer dollars spent every year purchasing infrastructure, construction and public services, the Commission’s message is increasingly clear: businesses secretly manipulating tenders should expect greater scrutiny.
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