Chisinau’s airport blamed by competition watchdog for favoring taxi operator

The National Agency for Competition Protection (ANPC) has accused the state-run Chisinau International Airport of favoring a certain taxi operator and, consequently, limiting competition on its territory, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to a press release from ANPC, “the activity of other passenger carriers offering taxi services on the mentioned territory has become constrained artificially (and not as a result of competition), other taxi operators being forced to look for solutions to organize their activity differently from the privileged company”. “Hostages to this situation are actually the passengers: the lack of choice (competition) on the market, in cases where prices are not regulated, lead to violation of their economic interests. Passengers are compelled to accept unjustified fares and pay for the ride without a check being issued by a taximeter”, the press release reads. ANPC’s Board labeled the respective actions as abuse of the dominant situation on the market and issued a cease-and-desist order prescribing the administration of the Chisinau International Airport to annul the previous and hold another tender competition, affording equitable conditions to all the interested operators. According to ANPC, the airport has already complied with the command to annul the results of the competition which allowed one single operator to provide taxi services on its territory.