Fifteen days from the email, every ground on the TRA's form, a decision within 45 days of the hearing. The TRA can annul the decision; it cannot give you the contract.
The email comes through the e-procurement system. The contract has gone to a competitor, or the tender has been rejected for a missing document, or the specifications of a new tender are written so that the business cannot meet them. A recourse to the Tender Review Authority (TRA) is the quickest way to challenge that decision, and it is short in every sense: fifteen days to file, a written procedure decided on the tender file, and a result that can annul the decision but cannot hand the contract to the bidder who complained.
This guide follows a recourse from the decision to the TRA's ruling and what comes after it. Interim measures and the personal guarantee introduced in November 2025 are covered in our article on the guarantee a tender challenge now costs, and only briefly here.
Who may file, and against which decisions
Any bidder or candidate that wanted the contract and is harmed by a decision taken before the contract is signed may file. Section 19(1) of Law 104(I)/2010 gives the right to every interested person who has or had an interest in being awarded a specific contract and who has suffered or may suffer loss from an act or decision of the contracting authority that precedes the conclusion of the contract and is alleged to breach the applicable law. The Supreme Court has said in terms that a decision not to accept a bid is an executory administrative act, open to review by the TRA or by the Administrative Court. The award to a competitor is covered too, and sections 21(4) and 25(2)(c) deal separately with complaints about the tender's technical, economic and financial specifications.
Two decisions show where a recourse can fail before its merits are reached.
- A letter that only repeats an earlier decision cannot be challenged. In MSN Legal Consortium v. Ministry of Finance, decided by the TRA on 17 June 2024, the bidder challenged a letter of 23 April 2024 refusing its late consent to extend the validity of its tender. The TRA held that the letter restated, without any new inquiry, what the ministry had told the bidder by email on 8 April 2024. The executory decision was the earlier one, the fifteen days had run from it, and the recourse was dismissed.
- The tender must stay valid while the recourse is pending. In Dimosthenous v. Tender Review Authority, decided by the Supreme Court on 7 June 2021, a bidder in a University of Cyprus tender rejected the authority's invitation to extend the validity of his tender during his recourse, and it lapsed. The recourse was dismissed as having no object: by letting his tender lapse he had abandoned the competition and lost the status of interested person that section 19(1) requires.
The TRA or the Administrative Court: the value decides
Whether the TRA can hear the case at all depends on the contract, and for most contracts the test is its estimated value. Section 3 of Law 104(I)/2010 applies the Law to public contracts under Law 73(I)/2016 at or above the thresholds in section 9 of that Law, to utilities contracts, concessions and certain defence contracts above their own thresholds, and, below the EU thresholds, only to works contracts, and works and services concessions, with an estimated value of one million euro or more.
The section 9 thresholds are the EU thresholds "as revised from time to time by the Commission", and the consolidated text on CyLaw still prints the figures the Law was enacted with. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2152 has set them, from 1 January 2026, at 5,404,000 euro for works contracts, 140,000 euro for supply and service contracts awarded by central government authorities, and 216,000 euro for those awarded by other contracting authorities. The estimated value is the authority's own estimate of the total payable, without VAT, including any options and extensions the tender documents provide for (section 10(1) of Law 73(I)/2016).
Below those figures the TRA cannot hear the case, and a decision in the tender is challenged by recourse to the Administrative Court under Article 146 of the Constitution, within 75 days of its publication or, if it is not published, of the day it came to the bidder's knowledge. Above them, section 19(2) still allows the bidder to choose the Administrative Court instead. The choice is made at the start and it matters: the interim measures of section 24, and the extension under section 22(2) of the bar on signing the contract until the TRA rules on them, exist only in the TRA procedure. Our article on challenging a government decision explains the Article 146 recourse.
Fifteen days, counted from the email
The period is short, and it runs from the sending, not from the reading. Where the decision is sent by facsimile or electronic means, and electronic means are the general rule for communications in a tender under section 55(1) of Law 73(I)/2016, section 21(1)(a) allows fifteen calendar days from the day after it was sent. Where other means are used, section 21(1)(b) allows fifteen calendar days from the day after sending or ten from the day after receipt. A complaint about the specifications in the notice or the tender documents has its own clock: ten calendar days from publication, under section 21(4).
MSN Legal Consortium shows how strictly this is read. The consortium said it had never read the emails giving it the result. The TRA held that electronic sending starts the period once the recipient is able to open the message and learn its contents, that the burden of proving late receipt lies on the applicant, and that what mattered was that the letters had been duly notified, as their delivery confirmations showed, not whether they had been read.
The reasons can be requested, but section 21 does not wait for them. Section 54(2) of Law 73(I)/2016 requires the contracting authority, on a written request, to give a rejected bidder its reasons, and a bidder with an admissible tender the characteristics and relative advantages of the tender selected, within fifteen days of the request at the latest. Section 21 of Law 104(I)/2010 counts from the sending or receipt of the decision and says nothing of that reply, so the request and the recourse are prepared side by side.
Filing: the form, the grounds and the fee
Everything the bidder wants to argue must be in the recourse itself. Section 20(1) requires the applicant to specify the remedies sought and the legal and factual grounds on which the recourse rests, with the material that supports them. That matters later as well: the Supreme Court has held that a ground of annulment can be examined by the Administrative Court, on a challenge to the TRA's decision, only if it was raised before the TRA.
The recourse is filed on a form whose type the TRA fixes, with a fee fixed by the Minister of Finance on the TRA's recommendation and published in the Official Gazette (section 20(2)). The Gazette notice of 19 November 2010, Κ.Δ.Π. 467/2010, set the fee in bands according to the value of the selected tender, with a flat fee where the recourse concerns an act before tenders are submitted or the cancellation of a tender; the current fee is best confirmed with the TRA when filing. The rules on refunding the fee and on costs, which each party ordinarily bears itself, are in section 20 and in our earlier article.
Interim measures, in brief
Filing a recourse holds back the signature of the contract only for a short time: subject to the exceptions in section 23, the contract cannot be concluded while the time for a recourse runs and, once a recourse is filed, until the TRA decides on interim measures (section 22). An interim measure suspending the procedure, the decision or the signature must be asked for on the recourse form, and since November 2025 together with a declaration that the bidder will provide a personal guarantee; without the declaration the request is rejected (section 24(1A)). The TRA decides within five working days of notifying the recourse to the authority, weighing the probable consequences for all the interests likely to be harmed and the public interest. A separate article covers interim measures in public procurement.
The authority's report, the written addresses and the hearing
After filing, the procedure runs in writing until the hearing. Within two working days of registration the TRA notifies the recourse to the contracting authority and asks it to file, within ten working days, a written report with any material it considers necessary (section 24(1)(b)). The TRA's decisions call that report the statement of facts, and once it is filed the TRA gives directions for written addresses, as it recorded in Logicom Solutions Limited v. Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy in 2025. Section 24(4) then requires a short date for the hearing, at which both sides, or their representatives, state their views on any issue the recourse raises.
The case is decided on the administrative file. In Michalitsis (Lakon A.T.E.) v. Paphos Municipality, decided on 13 December 2022, the TRA said that it reviews legality on the basis of the contents of the administrative file, unless another document can show a misconception on the authority's part or an error in an argument of the applicant. An affidavit the municipality filed fell into neither category and was not taken into account.
Seeing the tender file and the other bids
A bidder that files a recourse is entitled to inspect the tender file, but not what its competitors have legitimately kept confidential. In Michalitsis the bidder complained that it had been refused a copy of a report. The TRA answered that the authority's only obligation is to give anyone who files a recourse access to the whole administrative file, except documents held to be confidential, and that the bidder had had that access by inspecting the files. The limit comes from section 5(1) of Law 73(I)/2016: the contracting authority does not disclose information that economic operators have designated as confidential, including technical or trade secrets and the confidential aspects of tenders.
Interspiro AB v. Ministry of Defence, an interim decision of the TRA of 26 January 2023, shows where the line falls. The excluded bidder asked to inspect the whole of the winning tender, including a user manual the winner refused to release. The TRA held the manual relevant, because the authority had relied on it in finding that the winner met the terms of the tender. It still upheld the refusal as reasonable and reasoned, since the manual was a business secret whose disclosure would cause the winner financial harm. Drawing on the Court of Justice, it added that a refusal must state clearly why the information is confidential, and that the right to an effective remedy is respected where the authority discloses some aspects of it in neutral form.
How long the TRA has
The early steps are fixed in working days and the decision in calendar days from the hearing. The recourse is notified to the authority within two working days of registration, and the decision on interim measures follows within five working days of that notification (section 24(1) and (3)). The final decision is due as quickly as possible and at the latest within 45 calendar days of the end of the hearing (section 25(1)). Nothing in the Law fixes the time between filing and the hearing, beyond the requirement that the date be short.
What the TRA can do, and what it cannot
The TRA can confirm the decision or annul it; it cannot award the contract. Section 25(2) gives it three options: to confirm the act or decision; to annul it if it breaches any provision of the applicable law; or to annul, or order the amendment of, a term of the notice or tender documents on technical, economic and financial specifications, before applications or tenders are submitted. Choosing the winner is not among them, and neither is compensation, which section 33 sends to a court.
The TRA is not a court. The Supreme Court in Dimosthenous described it as able to examine the contracting authority's act afresh, as to its legality and on its substance. On technical evaluation, however, the courts have held repeatedly, as the Administrative Court recalled in A. Papaetis Medical Co. Ltd v. Tender Review Authority on 17 September 2019, that the TRA exercises a review of legality and does not substitute its own judgment for the administration's on technical matters. A recourse that only disputes the evaluators' technical marks meets that limit. One that shows a term of the tender was not applied, or that a bidder was excluded without being heard, raises a question of legality that the TRA decides itself.
Timing decides what an annulment is worth. Except where section 27 applies, an annulment after the contract has been concluded leaves the contract unaffected (section 25(3)). A signed contract can be declared ineffective only on a separate recourse, on the grounds of section 27 and within the limits of section 26, which our earlier article sets out.
After the decision
An annulment sends the tender back to the contracting authority; it does not finish it. Section 15(2) requires contracting authorities to notify the TRA in writing, within a reasonable time, of the measures taken to comply with each of its decisions. Michalitsis shows what that can look like. In an earlier recourse the TRA had annulled the bidder's exclusion because the municipality had excluded it without first letting it state its views on its reliability. The municipality re-examined the tenders, replaced two members of the evaluation committee, asked the bidder for its views and excluded it again, and the TRA dismissed the bidder's second recourse. The new decision is a new act, open to a recourse of its own, and it may lawfully reach the same result.
The TRA can annul the decision that cost a bidder the contract. It cannot give the bidder the contract.
The TRA's own decision can be taken to the Administrative Court. Section 32 subjects every decision, act or omission of the TRA to a recourse under Article 146 of the Constitution, filed within the 75 days of Article 146.3. The Supreme Court has explained that the TRA's decisions are administrative acts, and that the contracting authority's act, once challenged before the TRA, loses its executory force and is incorporated into the TRA's final decision (Republic, through the Tender Review Authority v. Electricity Authority of Cyprus, 28 January 2022). The Administrative Court's judgment may be appealed to the Administrative Court of Appeal, on a point of law only, within 42 days (section 13 of Law 131(I)/2015).
Loss is a separate claim in a civil court. Section 33 gives an interested party that has suffered loss from an act the TRA has annulled a right to claim damages from the contracting authority by action in the Nicosia District Court. Our article on compensation after annulment explains how such claims are measured, and the wider practice is described on our public and administrative law page.
What this means in practice
Count from the email, not from the day it was read. Fifteen calendar days run from the day after the decision is sent electronically, opened or not, and a later letter repeating it does not start a new period.
Check the value before choosing the forum. Supplies and services below the EU thresholds, and works below one million euro, are outside the TRA; the route for them is the Administrative Court, within 75 days.
Put every ground in the recourse. A ground not raised before the TRA cannot be raised later in the Administrative Court.
Keep the tender valid. A bidder that lets its tender lapse while the recourse is pending stops being an interested party, and the recourse falls with it.
Ask for the file, and say why. Inspection of the administrative file comes with the recourse; a competitor's business secrets do not, even when they are relevant. Name the documents wanted and tie each to a ground of the recourse, and mark your own know-how as confidential, specifically, when you bid.
Expect annulment, not award. The authority decides again, and its new decision is open to its own recourse. A contract already signed survives an annulment unless section 27 applies, and loss is claimed in the Nicosia District Court.
Questions we are asked
Who can bring a recourse before the Tender Review Authority?
Any interested person who has or had an interest in being awarded the contract and who has suffered, or may suffer, loss from an act or decision of the contracting authority taken before the contract is concluded and alleged to breach the law, under section 19(1) of Law 104(I)/2010. That covers a bidder whose tender was rejected, one that lost the award and one that objects to the specifications. The tender must stay valid meanwhile: in Dimosthenous (2021) a bidder who declined to extend it lost the status of interested person.
Our contract is below the EU thresholds. Can we still go to the TRA?
Only if it is a works contract, or a works or services concession, worth one million euro or more. Otherwise the TRA hears contracts at or above the EU thresholds, which since 1 January 2026 are 5,404,000 euro for works, 140,000 euro for supplies and services of central government authorities and 216,000 euro for those of other contracting authorities. Below them, the decision is challenged by recourse to the Administrative Court under Article 146 of the Constitution, within 75 days.
When does the fifteen-day period start?
Where the decision was sent by facsimile or electronic means, on the day after it was sent, under section 21(1)(a) of Law 104(I)/2010. In MSN Legal Consortium (2024) the TRA held that what mattered was that the emails had been duly notified, not whether anyone had read them, and that a later letter repeating the decision did not start a new period. A complaint about the tender's specifications has ten calendar days from publication, under section 21(4).
Can we see the winning tender?
You can inspect the administrative file, but not what other bidders have legitimately designated as confidential. The TRA has said that anyone who files a recourse must be given access to the whole file except documents held to be confidential, and section 5(1) of Law 73(I)/2016 bars disclosure of technical or trade secrets that bidders have designated as confidential. In Interspiro (2023) the TRA found the winner's user manual relevant, yet upheld the refusal to show it because it was a business secret.
How long does the TRA take?
The recourse is notified to the contracting authority within two working days of registration, its written report is due within ten working days, and interim measures are decided within five working days of the notification. The hearing is fixed for a short date, and the decision is due at the latest within 45 calendar days of the end of the hearing, under section 25(1). No fixed period runs from filing to the hearing.
If the TRA annuls the decision, do we get the contract?
No. Under section 25(2) the TRA may confirm the act, annul it, or annul or amend specifications before tenders are submitted; awarding the contract is not among its powers. The contracting authority then decides again, and its new decision can itself be challenged. A contract signed before the annulment stands unless section 27 applies, and loss is claimed in the Nicosia District Court under section 33.
Can the TRA's decision be challenged?
Yes, by recourse to the Administrative Court under Article 146 of the Constitution, as section 32 of Law 104(I)/2010 provides, within 75 days. The Supreme Court has held that the court can examine a ground of annulment only if it was raised before the TRA, so every ground belongs in the original recourse. The judgment can be appealed to the Administrative Court of Appeal on a point of law only, within 42 days, under section 13 of Law 131(I)/2015.
Sources
- Review Procedures in the Field of Public Contracts Law of 2010, Law 104(I)/2010, consolidated text, sections 2, 3, 15, 19 to 25, 32 and 33, CyLaw
- Public Procurement (Regulation of Procedures and Related Matters) Law of 2016, Law 73(I)/2016, consolidated text, sections 5, 9, 10, 54 and 55, CyLaw
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2152 of 22 October 2025, thresholds for public supply, service and works contracts for the years 2026 and 2027, Article 1, EUR-Lex
- Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, Article 146, paragraphs 1 and 3, consolidated text, CyLaw
- Administrative Court (Establishment and Operation) Law of 2015, Law 131(I)/2015, consolidated text, section 13, CyLaw
- Fixing of fees for a recourse to the Tender Review Authority under section 20(2) of Law 104(I)/2010, Κ.Δ.Π. 467/2010, Official Gazette Annex III(I) No. 4462, 19 November 2010, CyLaw
- Dimosthenous v. Tender Review Authority, Revisional Appeal 137/2014, Supreme Court of Cyprus, 7 June 2021
- Republic of Cyprus, through the Tender Review Authority v. Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Appeal against a decision of the Administrative Court 3/2020, Supreme Court of Cyprus, 28 January 2022
- A. Papaetis Medical Co. Ltd v. Tender Review Authority and Another, Case 612/2016, Administrative Court, 17 September 2019
- MSN Legal Consortium v. Ministry of Finance, Recourse 21/2024, Tender Review Authority, 17 June 2024
- Panagiotis Michalitsis S.A. (Lakon A.T.E.) v. Paphos Municipality, Recourse 28/2022, Tender Review Authority, 13 December 2022
- Interspiro AB v. Ministry of Defence, Recourse 31/2022, Tender Review Authority, interim decision of 26 January 2023
- Logicom Solutions Limited v. Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Recourse 8/2025, Tender Review Authority, 2 June 2025
This article is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
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