site.btaCC-DB Backs Taxi Drivers Protests Amid Spiralling Insurance Costs

Members of the Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) party met with representatives of the taxi industry to discuss a dramatic increase in compulsory third-party liability insurance, the party's press service said here on Monday.

Taxi drivers have reported that since early October, insurance premiums have skyrocketed, increasing between threefold and sixteenfold—from BGN 300 per car to amounts ranging from BGN 1,000 to BGN 6,000. This dramatic rise is rendering insurance unaffordable for many taxi operators and pushing them toward bankruptcy, CC-DB warned.

The party voiced support for the taxi drivers' planned protest and suggested that the issue may stem from a cartel agreement among insurance companies. CC-DB called for the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) to intervene.

However, they emphasized that the CPC’s leadership currently operates with an expired mandate, creating delays and obstructing antitrust enforcement. CC-DB reiterated their commitment to prioritizing the launch of open procedures for selecting new leadership for regulatory authorities.

Earlier this month, Kiril Rizov, honorary president of the Taxi Union not-for-profit association, said at a press conference at the National Press Club of BTA in Sofia that taxi drivers will go on a national protest on November 20 due to the increase in the price of the insurance premium for the mandatory third-party liability insurance by taxi insurers. The protest was also announced on the Facebook page of the Taxi Union association.