site.btaPresident Vetoes Legislation that Criminalizes Unauthorized Carriage of Passengers

Sofia, November 5 (BTA) - President Rumen Radev sent back to Parliament legislation that criminalizes unauthorized carriage of passengers, which might affect rideshare, said the President's Press Secretariat here on Wednesday. It was pushed through by revisions to the Commercial Navigation Code by which the legislators amended the Penal Code and the Automobile Transport Act.

Under the amendments adopted in late September, a person who carries out public transportation of passengers without permission, registration or licence as required by national or EU law, will be punished, on conviction, with two to five years' imprisonment. The vehicle used will be confiscated by the State, regardless of who owns it. If the offence is committed by two or more persons acting according to a premeditated plan, or by using a counterfeit document, the punishment will be between five and 10 years' imprisonment and a fine between 5,000 and 15,000 leva, and, possibly, confiscation of up to a half of the
offender's assets.
 
The President argues that while he does not put to question the premise that unauthorized carriage of passengers - which is considered an administrative misdemeanor even now - is a public hazard, he finds that the new legislation determines the same act to be both a misdemeanor and a crime, which have different legal gravity, with no clarity about which of the two will be applicable. "The shadow economy should be prosecuted with the instruments of law: clear legislation adopted in a predictable and open legislative procedure," the President said.

LN/NV