site.btaUPDATED Taxi Drivers Want Bonus-Malus System, Price Cap on Liability Insurance
Krasimir Tsvetkov, chair of the association National Taxi Trade Union, told BTA here on Wednesday that taxi drivers demand a price cap on the price of compulsory third-party liability insurance until a clear legal mechanism is developed, through the insurance code, to introduce the bonus-malus system and assess the risk of each driver based on their individual performance. Taxi drivers across the country are rallying on Wednesday to protest the spikes in the price of the compulsory insurance.
Tsvetkov labelled the price increase brutal and added: "When we say brutal, we mean 300% to 1,110%. The insurance on my car went up from BGN 386 to BGN 1,077, and it keeps going up. Meanwhile, we see absolutely no justification for this."
He also commented a statement from Chair of the Association of Bulgarian Insurers Nikolay Stanchev, who said in an interview for BTA that road accidents with taxis are 20 times more common than accidents with other cars, which makes it necessary for the price of third-party liability insurance to go up. Stanchev said: "This means that for every one accident with a car there are 20 with taxis. Where do you see those 20 taxi crashes on the road? [...] For us, this is a systematic distortion of public opinion in order to find some basic justification for an action that bears all the signs of a cartel agreement."
Stanchev reported that the Commission for Protection of Competition and the prosecution service have been informed about the matter. This industry also plans to notify the Financial Supervision Commission on Wednesday. Meetings with MPs from several parliamentary groups have been held.
The taxi drivers' protest will continue until, in his words, a fair risk assessment system gets implemented, Tsvetkov said. "If this situation is not contained, our protests will continue with escalating force. It is possible that people will not be able to cross borders or use highways over the holidays," he warned.
He said that if the inflated insurance price does not drop, the ultimate loser will be the users of the service, as they will see higher taxi fares.
Taxi drivers began to gather after 8 a.m. in front of the National Stadium in the capital. They proceeded to form a motorcade that passed by the headquarters of several institutions that are related to the matter.
Rallies are also planned in Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vratsa, Ruse, Pleven, Yambol, Pazardzhik, Sliven, Shumen, Sunny Beach, Nesebar, Tutrakan, Plovdiv and Pernik.
/NZ/
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