The carriers who a month ago asked to increase the passenger transport rate said the legal time limit for examining the issue and adopting a decision concerning their approach expired and no solution was provided. In such circumstances, as representatives of the Employers’ Association of Road Transport Operators (APOTA) said, the protests are inevitable. This way, in the course of this week, as a result of consultations with carriers, the day of the first protest will be announced, IPN reports.
The Association noted that the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development was asked to do calculations and to approve the rates for bus station services and road transport services. Working meetings involving representatives of the Association and the Ministry were held, but the authorities didn’t come up with solutions and didn’t present the own calculations.
The carriers are concerned about the Ministry’s inaction and its actions that favor the illegalities committed by the Șor-Andronachi-Vîlcu group that is behind the bus stations and unjustifiably collects 10% of the amounts gathered from passengers. The Ministry unreasonably denied the possibility of refunding the excise duties paid on fuel to carriers, but such mechanism is applied in all the EU member states. It also didn’t come up with financial-fiscal or administrative instruments for diminishing the imminent rise in transport fares.
The representatives of the Employers’ Association of Road Transport Operators asked to increase the passenger transport fares, saying the operators of regular national routes can no longer cover the costs. This tendency became more accentuated after the first wave of fuel price rises earlier this year. Due to the pandemic that has lasted for over a year and a half, the flow of passengers diminished considerably and over 1,500 drives resigned. Investments in replacing the buses haven’t been made and almost 20% of all the regular routes are not operated. Furthermore, the daily fuel price rises also have an impact.
In 2009, the Ministry did calculations and approved the passenger transport rate at 0.38 lei/km. In 2013, it was set at 0.48 lei/km, while in 2019 at 0.60 lei/km.
