bid rigging

noun [U] LAW

Definition

› illegal behaviour by companies that are competing for work in which they make a secret agreement, for example to increase their prices or to share the work, in order that they both gain financially: The Office of Fair Trading has today formally accused 112 construction firms in England of participating in bid rigging.

› illegal behaviour by two or more people at an auction (= public sale) in which they agree not to bid against each other

(Definition of bid rigging noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)