Romania’s consumer protection authority slaps heavy fine on state-owned railway companies
The National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC) fined state-owned railway companies CFR Calatori and CFR Infrastructura with RON 578,000 (some EUR 121,000) for the deficiencies found in train stations and for the transport conditions, ANPC general manager Paul Anghel told local Agerpres.
The value of the 69 fines applied to the two railway companies represents almost half of the total fines of RON 1.2 million applied at national level in this sector.
More than 100 complaints targeting the train stations in Bucharest were filed with ANPC last year. Most consumers complained about delays and price changes, Anghel said.
“Unfortunately, the Romanian consumers don’t claim the hygiene conditions, they are oriented towards delays, modified prices, train cancellations or the trains’ speed, focusing less on the hygienic-sanitary conditions,” Paul Anghel explained.
ANPC inspectors carried out several controls across the country on February 6-7, checking the transport conditions but also the food services offered to consumers in the train stations. Following these checks, the inspectors applied total fines of over RON 1.2 million.
The ANPC checks in trains revealed dirty toilets, broken benches and cracked or broken windows. As for the train stations, the controls focused on the sanitary conditions and the services provided by the companies operating in these stations. Most major problems were found in train stations in the counties of Mehedinti, Calarasi, Giurgiu and Ialomita.
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