Brazilian court suspends Correios night mail tender

A Brazilian commercial court has suspended a tender process by the country’s public postal operator, ECT (Empresa de Correios e Telegrafos), for night air mail services saying the bidding process was fraught with “consistent indications of irregularities“.

ECT launched a tender process for its overnight mail deliveries since its current contracts with Skymaster and Total airlines are about to run out. The court claims the BRL 132.7 million (EUR 49.7 million) contract is 60% over-valued and has suspended the tender while it seeks explanations from Correios executives.

There have been wide-ranging spate corruption allegations in Brazil over the over-valuing of public contracts and bribes paid to civil servants to secure them. ECT is one of the organisations under the spotlight, though it denies any wrongdoing by its employees.

Postal officials have been explaining to judge Raymond Path the complexities of its mail contracts, which are measured against aircraft use and the varying loads and load capacities on flights. ECT is now awaiting the verdict of the court on whether the tender procedure can be continued, albeit modified, or a new one should be launched.

The Brazilian press reported last year that ECT, tired of years of allegations over its outsourcing contracts, is considering launching its own air mail service through leased aircraft which might also, it believes, cut costs.