The General Services Administration has proposed a new rule that will require government contractors to submit data on prices paid by agencies for products or services acquired through GSA’s contract vehicles, Federal Times reported Wednesday.Andy Medici writes that the rule supports GSA efforts to establish spending categories and foster price transparency as well as enable agencies to use price comparison data to guide contracting decisions.
“The current lack of transparency on prices paid by government customers has led to significant price variation, sometimes 300 percent or more, for identical purchases by federal agencies from the same commercial vendor as well as the unnecessary duplication of contract vehicles,” GSA said in the proposal, according to the report.
The information will be part of the Common Acquisition Platform that is currently under development, the report said.
Medici notes that the proposed rule will partially void the price reduction clause in Multiple Award Schedules.
