PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ROME: ADDITIONAL SERVICES
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
ANTITRUST MOVES TO OPEN UP LOCAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT. INVESTIGATION BEGUN IN ROME INTO POSSIBLE ANTI-COMPETITIVE ARRANGEMENT BY SITA, A.P.M. AND A.R.PA.
The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 9 November 2005, decided to open an investigation into possible anti-competitive conduct by the companies SITA – Società per Azioni, A.P.M. Esercizi S.p.A. and Autolinee Regionali Pubbliche Abruzzesi A.R.P.A. S.p.A.. The Authority’s decision was prompted by the joint offer made by the three companies, acting as an ATI (temporary joint-venture), to take over the running of 26.5 million vehicle-km p.a. of Rome’s public transport network (the so-called “additional services”, which represent about 20% of the Municipality of Rome’s public transport).
In the Authority’s view, the agreement to form this ATI to make a bid during 2005 may constitute an “anti-competitive arrangement”. The aim of the three companies seems to have been to maintain the market positions achieved by winning the previous tender in 2001, by expedient limitation of any competitive comparison with their main Italian and foreign rivals.
indeed, a number of operators, including some important foreign companies like RaTP of France and the U.K.’s ARRIVA, had shown interest in supplying the service, only to find extreme difficulty in procuring the use of depots and the logistical infrastructure needed to carry on the service. This prerequisite practically obliged them to reach agreements with locally-operating transport companies which already had such structures available to them. That availability confers an undoubted competitive advantage and made it very difficult for any competitor to procure the necessary infrastructure so as to present an offer to compete with the only one made, i.e. the one by SITA, A.P.M. and A.R.P.A. (at present, in fact, the service is run by an ATI made up of the above companies together with the French firm TRANSDEV, as a result of the 2001 tendering process).
Furthermore, the Authority thinks the presumed coordination amongst the three companies may also indicate the existence of a network of parallel agreements of a similar nature in other areas of the country. In those cases, too, the objective would be to maintain existing business setups and market positions by preventing the entry of new operators.
In its finding, the Authority also emphasizes that a study of the outcomes of the first tendering procedures for local transport services carried out in the whole of Italy as a result of the liberalization process begun in 1997 shows a low level of participation by businesses and a consistent reconfirmation of the dominant operator, sometimes in alliance with other operators.
Rome, 12 November 2005