Romania's competition body investigates taxi firms for collusion

Romania's Competition Council currently carries an investigation into a possible violation of the Competition Law by the taxi operators' association COTAR and its members, the competition body's president Bogdan Chiritoiu said.

He added the competition authority might recommend legal amendments to increase competition in this sector, such as lifting the obligation for a taxi driver to be affiliated to a dispatch, local News.ro reported.

The comment comes in the context of fierce arguments between traditional taxi operators and application-based operators such as Uber and Bolt (Taxify). Taxi companies have repeatedly urged the Government to outlaw Uber-like operators for unfair competition, while the Government seems more inclined to regulate their activity. Taxi companies have been fined in the past for non-competitive behavior. Uber and Taxify have also urged traditional taxi operators to accept competition instead of attempting to force the Government to ban, application-based operators.

"We are currently investigating a possible violation of the Competition Law by COTAR and its members by coordinating the competitive behavior on the public passenger transport market in the Bucharest-Ilfov region," Bogdan Chiritoiu said. He stressed that he proposed eliminating the obligation that taxi drivers are tied to a dispatcher.

In response, COTAR requested the replacement of the Competition Council's head, claiming that he is biased in favor of application-based operators, Ziarul Financiar reported.

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