BNUMBER:  B-277526.2 
DATE:  August 18, 1997
TITLE: CDIC, Inc.--Entitlement to Costs, B-277526.2, August 18, 1997
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Matter of:CDIC, Inc.--Entitlement to Costs

File:     B-277526.2

Date:August 18, 1997

Michael H. Payne, Esq., Starfield & Payne, for the protester.
Michael Colvin, Department of Health and Human Services, for the 
agency.
Paul E. Jordan, Esq., and Paul Lieberman, Esq., Office of the General 
Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.

DIGEST

General Accounting Office will not consider request for recommendation 
of payment of protest costs where agency takes corrective action on or 
before the agency report due date.

DECISION

CDIC, Inc. requests that our Office recommend payment by the 
Department of Health and Human Services of CDIC's costs, including 
attorneys' fees, of filing and pursuing its protest of the elimination 
of its proposal from the competitive range under request for proposals 
No. 97-01N.  

We dismiss the request.

CDIC filed its protest on July 15, 1997, requesting that its proposal 
be included in the competitive range.  On July 18, the agency notified 
the protester that it would receive discussions and an opportunity to 
submit a best and final offer.  The protester notified our Office on 
July 18 that it wished to withdraw its protest, simultaneously 
requesting that we recommend payment of its protest costs.  On July 
23, we dismissed the protest.

Our Bid Protest Regulations, 4 C.F.R.  sec.  21.8(e) (1997), provide that 
where an agency decides to take corrective action in response to a 
protest, we may recommend that the agency pay protest costs, including 
attorneys' fees.  However, we will make such a recommendation only 
where the agency unduly delayed taking corrective action in the face 
of a clearly meritorious protest.  CSL Birmingham Assocs.; IRS 
Partners-Birmingham--Entitlement to Costs, B-251931.4, B-251931.5, 
Aug. 29, 1994, 94-2 CPD  para.  82 at 3.

The corrective action taken here by the agency 3 days after the filing 
of the protest is precisely the kind of prompt reaction to a protest 
that our Regulation is designed to encourage.  As a general rule, so 
long as an agency takes corrective action in response to a protest by 
the due date of its protest report, we regard such action as prompt 
and decline to consider a request to recommend reimbursement of 
protest costs.  See DuraMed Enters., Inc.--Request for Costs, 
B-271793.2, Oct. 4, 1996, 96-2 CPD  para.  135 at 2.  

CDIC's request for costs is dismissed.

Comptroller General 
of the United States