The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) is investigating the formation of prices in the transportation market due to a sharp price rise for the services of the main players in the taxi market on the first day of lockdown, Head of the Northern Territorial Branch of the AMCU Oleksiy Khmelnytsky said on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
He said that on the first day of lockdown, the prices for taxi services of the three largest organizers of transportation via mobile applications simultaneously increased by 3-4 times, which is unacceptable.
“Already in the evening of April 6, taxi prices fell noticeably. It should be noted that the demand did not decrease [there were no less trips, the demand was constant] and lockdown was not canceled. This is the reaction of these companies to the indignation of Kyiv residents, the media and the AMCU’s reaction. I am convinced that companies can adjust prices on their own, not only automatically, given the critical situation with COVID-19 in Kyiv. Could there be any signs of violation of competition laws [on coordination of actions]? In my opinion, yes,” Khmelnytsky said.
He also said that the AMCU should definitely respond to a large number of appeals from Kyiv residents.
“We cannot ignore citizens’ appeals; that is why we launched our probe. This is the law […] In fact; the situation on the transport market [whatever you call it, for people it is taxi services] has not been studied by anyone. That is why we started the study. We will draw conclusions based on its findings,” he said.
At the same time, Khmelnytsky noted that the AMCU perfectly understands all the specifics of the work of programs and applications, which are rather difficult to control.
According to him, if, based on the findings of the study, the AMCU does not receive evidence of anticompetitive concerted actions of the largest market players, the committee will definitely inform about it.
“If we get evidence of a violation of competition legislation, we will open a case, make a decision and fine the violators. If it turns out that the legislation and rules do not correspond to modern technologies, we will turn to legislators with a proposal,” the head of the AMCU Northern Territorial Branch said.
As reported, on April 5, taking into account the imposition of strict quarantine, prices for taxi services, in particular in Kyiv, increased several times.
Bolt taxi ordering service (formerly Taxify) has decided to forcefully adjust the coefficient that affects the increase in cost during the period of increased demand.
Taxi ordering services Uklon and Uber told Interfax-Ukraine that their pricing systems depend on many factors, automatically taking into account the situation on the roads, weather conditions, demand and others.
ANTIMONOPOLY COMMITTEE, LOCKDOWN, TAXI, TAXI MARKET, TRANSPORT
Carrying out the reform of the taxi market in Ukraine in a five-year perspective can create 100,000 jobs, according to the Uber taxi service.
“I believe that the adoption of a civilized reform will lead, firstly, to an increase in passenger safety, and secondly, to an inflow of foreign investments into Ukraine, and as a result to the creation of jobs. We estimate that the taxi reform may create 100,000 jobs in Ukraine over a five-year perspective,” Uber’s Development Director in Central and Eastern Europe Georgii Sokolianskyi said during an online discussion on the taxi market on Thursday.
According to him, the main obstacle to the development of the taxi market in Ukraine is the lack of sufficiently high-quality cars for those who are ready to work in this sector, since cars and loans in Ukraine are very expensive, especially in comparison with the EU countries.
Sokolianskyi also said that platforms such as Uber often reach agreements with car manufacturers on special terms of purchase, with leasing companies on cheaper loans, potentially secured by companies. At the same time, there is a model on the market for working with private drivers, when the platform gives money for the first payment for a car, and in return the driver agrees to brand the car for a certain period.
“At the same time, neither we, nor private investors in vehicle fleets can invest in an illegal market, where investments may be lost tomorrow if the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety (Ukrtransbezpeka) or the head of the National Police changes,” Sokolianskyi said.
He said that due to problems with regulation in the taxi sector, Ukraine often loses competition for investment to other countries.
“For an investor, the rule of law, fair courts and transparent regulation are always important. And, perhaps, today we cannot change the quality of Ukrainian legal proceedings, but we can change the transparency of taxi regulation,” Uber’s Development Director in Central and Eastern Europe said.
The European Business Association (EBA) has asked Head of the Verkhovna Rada committee for transport and infrastructure Yuriy Kysyl to support a bill proposing new legislation for the taxi market, the press service of the EBA said on Friday. “The adoption of a new model for regulating the taxi market is a significant step in introducing European standards into the life of Ukrainians. We hope that the new law on taxis will allow us to remove transportation from the shadows, get rid of outdated regulations and instead introduce clear and equal rules of the game for market players. For the first time, Ukraine has approached the reform of the taxi services market in such a comprehensive and professional manner that it is undoubtedly a positive signal,” the press service said, citing Advocacy Team Leader at the EBA Igor Gotsyk.
According to the report, the bill proposes the cancellation of obtaining a license for the domestic transportation of passengers by taxi, while at the same time the obligation is introduced to notify the State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety, which also provides the functions of the public register of road carriers.
In addition, according to the document, an individual road carrier is not required to register as private entrepreneur. He also does not need to draw up a contract on transportation for each service in paper. He can only draw up a contract in electronic form.
“Given the thoroughness of the above-mentioned provisions and the importance of their adoption in order to increase the transparency of operations by carriers who operate road passenger transport services, we expect fruitful cooperation and hope that the bill will be adopted this autumn,” the EBA said.
