Romania is a country where we often face procrastination, precisely when a solution to an old and long-discussed problem tends to appear.

I think the most recent example is the Motor Carriage of Persons Act, which sort of illustrates postponement as a solution to a situation that can’t seem to find a solution.

The Passenger Transport Act is a law passed by Parliament last spring and was designed to gradually open up the passenger transport market to a Western model and to integrate clear competition and safety rules. For more than six months, the regulatory act has been in bureaucratic drawers. For various reasons, we notice that the law voted by the parliament is on the list of postponements of the Constitutional Court every month.

However, the document voted in the parliament is important for the transport industry and the mobility of Romanians. Why is this law so important? The measures, proposed and voted on in May 2023, aimed to create a healthy competitive environment in bus transport with clear rules and increased safety for passengers. In the absence of a DRC solution, we are in a legislative vacuum that only perpetuates the monopoly of some transport companies and leaves buses aging on the streets, without legal pressure to invest in new and less polluting vehicles.

In the 10 years since passenger transport decisions have been delayed, licenses have been extended automatically, without clear criteria and without allowing competition in this market, although the matter has been repeatedly referred to the Competition Council in recent years.

The Competition Council’s warnings went unheeded, and in the absence of a law not to block the passenger transport market, we now see that the Ministry of Transport has come up with a new postponement of the extension of the validity period of licenses and programs for road transport. for another 6 months, until the end of June 2024. The argument is familiar – expiring licenses will block the movement of travelers and affect constitutional rights, and the extension is necessary to prevent illegal activities.

The consequences of blocking the market will also be reflected in the state budget, which may suffer due to non-payment of fees and taxes related to passenger transport activities, given that operators will operate without route licenses. We will see losses not only among travelers, but also at the level of the entire economy.

For 10 years, passenger transport has been waiting for the renewal of the legal framework that would bring Romania an open and competitive market, a market where investment becomes a habit and not just an exception, where companies increasingly come forward to win customers through quality, safety and comfort. _ Read the entire article and comment on it on Contributors.ro