IPS authorized a new 550 million guarani tender to purchase eyeglasses after Óptica María Auxiliadora suspended deliveries. The company disputes the decision and says it invested in serving insured members while still awaiting payments from the institution.
Resolution CA No. 071-011/2026, issued by the IPS Board of Directors, records that the supplier unilaterally suspended deliveries because of nonpayment. The contract, signed on November 28, 2025, provided for the supply of single-vision and bifocal lenses for 12 months, through November 2026, with a minimum value of 400 million and a maximum of 800 million guaraníes. The source says the contract was canceled.
Gladys Vera, IPS financial manager, told the Board that the institution decided to begin a new process because it could not pay the company, which allegedly had outstanding employer and worker contributions to the social security system. Delia Cristina Planás Escobar, owner of Óptica María Auxiliadora, denies that any contributions are outstanding and says she submitted a certificate of compliance to Última Hora.
Planás estimates that IPS owes about 330 million guaraníes. The claim includes invoices from earlier contracts: on July 23, 2026, the company said it agreed to assign collection rights for 13 invoices under award contract No. 245/2024, worth 159.4 million guaraníes. The following day, it reported assigning collection rights for six invoices under contract No. 563/2019, totaling approximately 41.7 million guaraníes.
The supplier says it received no payments under the 2025 contract and criticized the launch of a new tender while, in its account, the debt remained unpaid. “We worked and invested a great deal to serve insured members well and provide the best-quality eyeglasses; now, instead of paying what they owe us, they are issuing a new call for bids,” Planás said.
The 550 million guarani procurement was therefore authorized before the originally scheduled end of the contract, but after its cancellation and the suspension of deliveries. IPS’s explanation that contributions were outstanding and the company’s dispute over its social security compliance remain contested.