When a tender is held, the participants are required to pay fees that are not refunded to them, even if the tender is awarded to one of the competitors. What is the ruling of the Shari'ah in this matter?

The questioner : People have become accustomed in this time to a matter whose ruling in Islam we do not know, which is that when entering any tender, a specific fee is required for entry into the tender, and when this tender is awarded to one of the competitors, the money they paid in advance is not returned to them?

The Shaykh : In my opinion, this is considered like taxes. Taxes, in my view, are divided into two categories: most of them are for maintenance, and some may be in the nature of fees. I do not know why this fee is imposed on those people. If you have knowledge and an answer to this question, why it is imposed, we can look into it.
The student : It is just a fee, Shaykh, for entry only.
Another student: It is a guaranteed profit, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : A guaranteed profit, meaning if a tender is issued and a thousand companies participate, and the fee is fifty dinars, that is fifty thousand guaranteed. So it is a guaranteed profit for each company, meaning in the competition, this is their profit.

The Shaykh : It means it is profit without effort.
The student: Yes.
Another student: If there is effort, there is partial effort, our Shaykh, such as the cost of paper, printing, and the employees who handle the advertisements and the like.

The Shaykh : All right, let us address the matter in another way. I imagine, and I am not a merchant or an expert... but I imagine, if the door of participation were opened without this fee, would any harm result?
The student : For the company... the tender.
Another student: The number of companies would increase.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : The number of participants in the tender would increase. Student: They would benefit, Shaykh, meaning, you would benefit, because some companies do not submit for this tender for the sake of the fees. They say, for example, if I participate in every tender with a profit of thirty or fifty dinars, I might not win a tender, so they do not participate at all. Perhaps the price would be a competitive incentive.

The Shaykh : Meaning the opposite is more beneficial.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : Perhaps this is, as we said earlier, regarding installment sales. The one who sells a house on installments at a price higher than the cash price has fewer customers than the one who sells at the cash price, also on the same installment terms, meaning he does not take extra for the installments, so his customers are more. Similarly, in this case, if this fee is not taken, his customers would be more. And if the matter is so, it would be from the category of consuming people's wealth unjustly.

The questioner : It is similar to lotteries, Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : It is similar to lotteries...
The student: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace...
The student : ... .

The Shaykh : Welcome.
The student : This, our Shaykh, before he spoke, was one of the dearest friends of our brother Abu Maher, may Allah have mercy on him...

The Shaykh : From what?
The student : One of the dearest friends of our brother Abu Maher.

The Shaykh : (may Allah have mercy on him).
The student : I visited you with him twice.

The Shaykh : Welcome.
The student : We used to come to you after... perhaps you remember.

The Shaykh : (may Allah have mercy on him).