site.btaCompetition Watchdog Orders Shared Ride Platform Maxim to End Operation

NW 18:37:31 03-06-2019
LN1836NW.122
122 - ECONOMY - MAXIM TAXI - COMPETITION WATCHDOG

Competition Watchdog Orders Shared Ride
Platform Maxim to End Operation,
Imposes LV 3,500 Fine


Sofia, June 3 (BTA) - The Commission for the Protection of
Competition has ordered the Taxi Maxim platform for shared rides to suspend operation and pay a fine equal to 8 per cent of its annual revenue. The decision of May 30 says that Maxim broke the competition law by offering transport services for which it did not hold a licence.

The fine is set at 3,520 leva.

The smart-phone-application-based ride-share service has been
operational in Bulgaria since 2014. It uses drivers with their
own cars who are not bound by fixed working time under contract. It says it is not a carrier and, therefore, is not subject to registration and regulation requirements. The Bulgarian branch of Maxim is run by a Russian national, and the capital is owned by an offshore company registered in the Dominican Republic. The service is available in Sofia (where licensed taxi operators say it operates 1,000-1,500 cars, compared to some 6,000 conventional taxis), Varna and Plovdiv.

The decision of the competition authority comes two months after it was alerted by the Supreme Administrative Prosecution Office (SAPO) about possible unfair competition and a year after SAPO launched a probe into whether Taxi Maxim was engaged in unregulated taxi transport.

In late March 2019, taxi drivers in Sofia staged a street
demonstration against what they see as undercutting of their
business by Taxi Maxim, which charges far lower fares but does
not pay taxes, insurance, licences and other costs.

Taxi Maxim is similar to Uber, which was outlawed in Bulgaria
following taxi drivers' protests in 2015.

The decision of the competition watchdog is appealable. LN/






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