PROVIDENCE — The two-month battle over the state’s multimillion-dollar auto-emissions testing contract is finished, and SysTech International LLC will be the new company running the program.

Superior Court Judge Michael A. Silverstein ruled yesterday in favor of state purchasing officials, who selected SysTech over Applus International Inc. to supervise Rhode Island’s vehicle emission and safety inspection program.

The ruling clarifies the uncertainty of which company will conduct the state-mandated tests next year. Rhode Island drivers are required by law to have their vehicles tested to meet safety and emission standards. The state currently has 294 inspection stations that conduct about 350,000 tests a year.

“Ultimately, the taxpayers of Rhode Island have won here,” said Brian P. Stern, executive director of the state Department of Administration. “We’ve sent a message to all businesses out there that the state is open for business.”

For now, drivers should see little change.

While the $47 testing fee stays the same, the division of the money will change. Drivers now pay $13 for the test, $18 to the inspection station and $16 to the state. Under the new contract, drivers will pay $4 for the test, $18 to the inspection station and $25 to the state.

When Governor Carcieri announced the new contract in October, he said he would ask the General Assembly to drop the fee to $39. That reduction, in turn, would save taxpayers $15 million over five years. But the General Assembly did not have the chance to take any action. Until the fee changes, the balance from the $47 will go to the state.

The fight over the contract began in November, when the current contractor, Applus Technologies Inc., sued the state. Applus, which managed the emissions testing program for seven years, claimed state purchasing officials acted in bad faith, offered concessions to SysTech and ignored the advice of a review committee that favored their company.

The trial involved nine days of testimony from 10 witnesses and more than 80 pieces of evidence. In the end, Silverstein said the plaintiffs had to provide the “burden of proof” to overturn the contract because of fraud, palpable abuse of discretion or violations of state laws or regulations.

His ruling found “there is simply no evidence before the court that suggests bad faith, corruption, political or otherwise, of the purchasing agent.”

Silverstein also said that while the review committee can make a recommendation, it was up to the state’s purchasing agent to make a final decision.

Silverstein’s judgment was in line with previous court rulings on state purchasing contracts. Silverstein noted the job of purchasing official is difficult and he did not want to place the state in a “legalistic straight-jacket.”

Stern said Applus and SysTech are both good companies and he was confident that both could have provided the service. “In the end, cost savings was the determining factor,” he said.

In a written statement, Carcieri thanked the Department of Administration, which “worked diligently — and in a fair and open process — to get the best deal for the state.”

SysTech attorney Alan Gelfuso said Applus “went on a fishing expedition” during the trial.

“At the end of the day, they came up empty handed, as they should have,” he said.

David Comeau, Applus’ director of operations and technology, disagreed with the decision.

But he promised the company will help provide a smooth transition to the new contractor. “Of course, we’re reserving all our legal options,” he said.

The switch of auto-testing programs to SysTech starts on Monday, New Year’s Day, with Tuesday being the first day of implementation.

SysTech has already set up headquarters in Warwick and 20 technicians will go to inspection stations and change the data routing numbers on the computers that conduct the tests, Gelfuso said. The technicians can update about six stations per day and the work should be completed by Jan. 20. In the meantime, inspection stations should still be able to conduct tests while the upgrades are being done, Gelfuso said.

Michelle J. Lee is a fellow with the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting.