Timeliness of Protest Sent to Wrong Agency
B-194399: Aug 13, 1979
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A company requested verification of information from the General Services Administration (GSA) concerning the possibility that an agency had exceeded the GSA maximum order limitation in its leasing practices. GSA did not reply, and the company formally protested the agency's procurement to GAO. The protest was received by GAO subsequent to the time limit of 10 days for protesting. It was held that the earlier request for verification of information, which formed the basis of the protest, could not toll the timeliness requirements. Even if the first request was considered, it would still be untimely since it was not initially addressed to the contracting agency. The fact that it was sent to the wrong agency cannot toll the timeliness requirements. Thus the merits of the protest were not considered and the protest was dismissed.
