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According to Article 29 of Regulation (EU) 181/2011, "Until 1 June 2015 and every two years thereafter, the enforcement bodies designated under Article 28(1), shall publish a report on their activities in the previous two calendar years, containing in particular a description of the actions they have taken to implement the provisions of this Regulation and statistics on complaints and penalties imposed".
In the framework of Article 29, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, as the body controlling the application of the provisions of Regulation (EU) 181/2011 on the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport, publishes this Activity Report for the years 2021 - 2022, which includes the actions taken to implement the Regulation on the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport on both regular and occasional services, as well as statistics concerning: (a) complaints lodged The statistics relate to the periods 1/1/2021 - 31/12/2021 and 1/1/2022 - 31/12/2022.
A. Implementation of Regulation (EU) 181/2011on the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport on regular services
The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, acting as the national body for monitoring the implementation of the provisions of Regulation (EU) 181/2011 on regular services, is responsible for the implementation of the provisions of Article 4(2), Article 9, Article 10(1), Article 10(1), Article 16(1)(b), Article 16(2), Article 17(1) and (2) and Articles 24 to 28, provisions applicable to regular services whose scheduled distance is less than 250 kilometres, as applicable in the case of Cyprus. The sponsoring companies are not only the carriers but also the terminal operators and ticket vendors.
The Ministry has informed the sponsoring companies in writing of their obligations arising from the above provisions and has drawn their attention to their faithful application. For the purpose of monitoring the application of the Regulation, it has assigned authorized auditors and/or experts to inspect the contractors on buses, stations, stops.
More specifically, the Ministry has ascertained the application of the provision of Article 4.2 - Tickets and contract conditions without discrimination, i.e. the offer of tickets to the general public without any direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of nationality or place of establishment of the carriers or ticket sellers, subject to social tickets. In accordance with subsection 2 of Article 19 of the Access to the Occupation of Road Transport Operator Act 2001 (Act No. 101(I)/2001) as amended to date "f fares per passenger for the provision of the public service of domestic regular road passenger transport shall be fixed by the competent authority: it is understood that the competent authority may decide on the subsidisation of fares per passenger, exclusively for social purposes related to the users of the public service of domestic regular road passenger transport, and accordingly fix the price of the transport fares".
The practice followed to date for social tickets concerns the free transport of children under the age of six, irrespective of nationality, as well as soldiers, contract soldiers and low-paid pensioners. A 50% discount is paid for university students of any nationality, persons of any nationality aged six to 18 years and holders of a Social Card or Social Card Beneficiary Certificate. Also, for families with more than two children attending secondary and technical public education at the same time, the amount of €15 is paid only for one child and the other children are exempted from the payment obligation. For a number of pupils whose families are recipients of assistance from the Welfare Office, tickets corresponding to the monthly fee of €15 are provided free of charge. Finally, by decision of the Council of Ministers dated 2/11/2016, pupils whose families are recipients of EHIC are entitled to a free ticket.
Free transport is also provided to European Disability Card beneficiaries and their accompanying persons, where the European Disability Card is marked "A" (Assistant), indicating the need for an accompanying person.
With regard to Article 9 - Right to transport, the Ministry has verified its implementation, as the sponsoring companies do not refuse to issue a ticket to or board persons due to disability or reduced mobility. Moreover, the booking and issuing of tickets to disabled persons or persons with reduced mobility is carried out at no extra cost. With regard to the reference to ticket reservation in Article 9, it is recalled that regular passenger transport services do not operate under the ticket reservation regime.
It is noted that among the agreed conditions of the Public Service Concession Contracts for Inland Road Passenger Transport on regular services, it was agreed to ensure the provision of comfortable, quality and safe transport for passengers with reduced mobility, such as persons with disabilities, persons of small stature, persons with heavy luggage, elderly persons, persons with reduced mobility, persons with reduced mobility, persons with disabilities, persons with reduced mobility, persons with reduced mobility, persons with reduced mobility and persons with reduced mobility. In particular, the need to ensure the proper functioning of wheelchair ramps on buses has been pointed out to the contractors.
With regard to Article 10 (1) - Exceptions and special conditions, it is provided that contractors may refuse to embark disabled persons or persons with reduced mobility when the design of the vehicle or the infrastructure, including bus stops and terminals, makes it impossible to embark, disembark or transport a disabled person or person with reduced mobility in a safe and operationally feasible manner. Under the terms of the new Concession Contracts, the fleet of all contractors will be fully accessible by 2023. Accessible buses are defined as buses that can accommodate passengers with reduced mobility, including wheelchair users. The wheelchair accessible requirement shall not apply to rural auxiliary routes where M2 vehicles are used, provided that the concessionaire has a dedicated Demand Responsive Service with specially adapted vehicles to transport affected wheelchair users to central stations of their choice. Until the entire fleet is made accessible, an alternative transport service is implemented after forty-eight hours' notice.
It is also worth noting that in 2016, the Department had amended and sent the accessibility guide to disabled people's organisations for their comments and input on it.
The Ministry has found that contractors annually implement a staff training programme on ethics and professional conduct issues, including issues related to training to serve persons with reduced mobility (Annex II of the Regulation). Due to the emergency situation created during the COVID 19 pandemic, it was found that some contractors had not complied with the provisions of this Article and did not carry out staff training programmes Regarding Article 17, Clauses 1 and 2 - Compensation for wheelchairs and other mobility equipment, the contractors have not encountered any problems to date regarding the loss or damage of wheelchairs, other mobility equipment or auxiliary equipment and their compensation.
It is a fact that public passenger transport faced problems in the issue of accessibility. A significant number of buses of some contractors were not accessible. Any shortcomings observed in these areas have already been significantly improved with the implementation of the new Contracts and it is expected that the service will be fully accessible within 2023.
In the area of information, it has been confirmed that the contractors comply with the provisions of Article 25 - Information on passenger rights. From the checks carried out, it was found that the contracting companies have posted the necessary information on passengers' rights and the screening body both at transfer stations and online. Information throughout the journey (audio and visual information about the next stop), as provided for in Article 24 - Right to travel information, has been implemented with the operation of the integrated telematics system for public passenger transport on regular services to a large extent, as the system has already been installed on most buses.
Regarding Article 26 - Complaints, the Ministry has confirmed that the carriers have a mechanism for handling complaints about rights Citizens submit their complaints to the contractors through telephone, written, electronic and face-to-face communication. In most cases, complaints are made by telephone. The companies record all complaints on a special complaint form, which each company has prepared for this purpose. The companies then investigate the complaints received and take all necessary corrective action to resolve them. Finally, they shall inform the citizen orally and/or in writing.
Furthermore, in accordance with Article 27 - Submission of complaints, it has been confirmed that the sponsoring companies shall inform the passenger if his/her complaint has been considered justified, rejected or is still being examined and shall reply to the complainant within three months from the date of receipt of the complaint. In addition, the Ministry has drawn the contracting companies' attention to the collection and categorisation of complaints from citizens for statistical purposes.
Under Article 28, Clause 3 - National enforcement bodies, the passenger, as a first step, submits the complaint to the carrier and, in this case, the Ministry acts as an appeal body for complaints not resolved under Article 27. However, in many cases, passengers directly approach the Ministry for submitting their complaints and suggestions and the Ministry resolves the problems that arise and responds accordingly to the passengers in collaboration with the contractors, if necessary. In this context, the Ministry receives daily complaints and suggestions concerning passenger transport on regular services in the form of written letters, e-mails and telephone communication.
B. Submitting complaints to contractors and imposing penalties. Statistics for the period 1/1/2021 - 12/31/2021 and 1/1/2022 - 12/31/2022
In the event that a contractor fails or neglects to comply with the obligations under the Key Performance Indicators and therefore the provisions of the Regulations, then the Department shall impose penalties in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of the Contracts.
In addition to the penalty system, contractors apply their own disciplinary code and impose penalties on their staff, which entail sanctions such as dismissal, written and verbal reprimand, etc. In addition, the Licensing Authority has the power and duty to exercise disciplinary control over licensed drivers and for this purpose may establish a Disciplinary Board, which shall exercise its disciplinary jurisdiction as set out in the Regulations made under the Professional Drivers Licensing Act 2011 (Law 80(I) / 2011). The Department of Road Transport has the power to suspend or revoke the professional licence of professional bus drivers for the reasons recorded in that Act.
The attached tables show the complaints made by citizens to each contractor company for the years 2021 and 2022, and the penalties imposed by the companies on their company staff for the relevant period. The nature of the complaints varies by company however it appears that the main reasons for complaints from passengers are staff behaviour, overcrowding, delay or non-operation of some services and complaints about bus stops (not stopping at stops, changing or creating a new stop). Staff behaviour includes both the behaviour of drivers on the roads and their behaviour towards the public. For this reason, the Ministry has drawn the attention of the contractors to the training of their staff at least once a year and to the imposition of sanctions on staff who do not display appropriate professional behaviour. As shown in the table of sanctions, contractors use verbal reprimands as the first stage of compliance. If staff do not comply with the company's verbal instructions, they are given a written reprimand, followed by absence from work and dismissal. It is important to note that the number of complaints as well as sanctions depends both on the passenger traffic and the extent of the geographical coverage of each contractor's operations.
The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, in seeking to operate a sound public passenger transport system responsive to the needs of society, is working with other relevant Departments of the Ministry such as the Department of Road Transport, the Department of Public Works, the Directorate of Audit, the Department of Antiquities and the Department of Electromechanical Services. It also cooperates with other Ministries / Departments / Services / Agencies / Institutions such as the Competition Protection Commission, the Audit Service, the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance, the State Ministry of Social Welfare, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry, the State Ministry of Tourism, the Department of Information Technology Services, the Municipalities and Communities, Parents' Associations, etc. In general, the cooperation aims to achieve the objectives of the Ministry and, in particular, contributes to the efficiency of the process of managing suggestions and complaints. It is noted that the Ministry has not received any complaints from foreign countries and therefore has not cooperated with foreign authorities on the issue of passenger rights.
C. Application of Regulation (EU) 181/2011 on the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport on occasional services
According to Article 2 of the Regulation, the Regulation also applies to passengers on occasional services when the initial point of embarkation or the final point of disembarkation of passengers is located in the territory of a Member State, except for Articles 9 to 16, Article 17(3) and Chapters IV, V and VI.
The Road Transport Department, which acts as the body controlling the application of the provisions of Regulation (EU) 181/2011 on the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport relating to occasional services, has not received any complaints against carriers operating occasional services relating to the provisions of the Regulation in question.
For the statistics on Complaints Management for the period 1/1/2021- 31/12/2021 click here.
For the statistics on Complaints Management for the period 1/1/2022- 31/12/2022 click here.
For the statistics on Penalties for the period 1/1/2021 - 31/12/2021 click here.
For the statistics on Penalties for the period 1/1/2022 - 31/12/2022 click here.
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Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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