Stampa

SCHOOL BUS SERVICE (Start of full phase investigation)


PRESS RELEASE



The Italian Competition Authority has initiated a proceeding against certain private transport companies to investigate an alleged violation of Section 2 of Law no.287/90, as a result of which competition is alleged to be significantly restricted in the market of school transport service within the Municipality of Rome.

The Municipality of Rome, after having received the advisoring opinion issued by the Authority on May 1995, decided not to apply the regional legislation which fixed minimum tariffs for the school bus service reserved for the nursery-school and grammar-school students. This being so they decided to apply the procedures protecting and guaranteeing competition in order to contract the school transport service for the school year 1995-1996. However, this was not possible because most of the transport companies boycotted the tenders organized by the Municipality of Rome and, as such, forced it to negotiate privately, in order to ensure the continuation of a service which was deemed essential for enjoying the right to study. The boycotting by the transport companies can be justified either by the unprofitability of the initial asking price, as some representatives of these companies themselves said, or by the intention to let the tenders fail so as to be able to contract the service through a private negotiation at higher tariffs.

The first supposition does not seem acceptable for the following reasons:

a) the initial asking price in the first tender arranged by the Municipality of Rome was lower by 10% than the minimum tariff as established by the Regional Law no. 73/89. These minimum tariffs were higher, sometimes by 50%, than those which are applied by certain Municipalities in other Regions. Furthermore, the Municipality of Rome has pointed out that companies operating in other Cities, in spite of the higher costs they would have incurred, would have been available to supply the school transport service at the initial price asked for in the tender. However, none of the companies coming from other cities have participated in the tenders so far.

b) Three of the 35 lots which were subject to the private negotiation were assigned to a private consortium at prices lower than those which were provided for by the Regional tariff list.

c) Another 3 lots were assigned via the private negotiation which was concluded at prices lower than those which were payed before by the Municipality of Rome.

d) The initial asking price in the second tender was equal to the tariffs provided for by a subsequent Regional tariff list. With regards to the arrangement of this price list, the Lazio Regional Council had accepted the requests, submitted by the associations which represent the school transport companies, of raising the price.